


Resolution

by Luvless34



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, On The Way To A Smile: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Anger/Revenge, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Depression, F/M, Guilt, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, True Love, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 49,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24688387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luvless34/pseuds/Luvless34
Summary: Taking place three years after Advent Children, Tifa Lockhart decides that she needs to find her own path to forgiveness and healing. Deciding to leave Seventh Heaven, she leaves Edge to figure out what she needs to move forward with her life and let go of the sins of her past.Yet, the further she steps away from the path, her anger might be the thing that undoes her. Warning: There might be some triggering material for those dealing with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. If that applies, please advance at your own risk or choose another fanfiction.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 68
Kudos: 134





	1. Heat Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> I know that OTWAS, Tifa was told by Barret and Cloud to manage Seventh Heaven as a way to make up for her past sins and to show that she doesn't just take but to give back too. 
> 
> This is sort of what I'm hoping and envisioning for Tifa, whose past is so intertwined with Cloud's, that she finds ways of letting go without turning to revenge. We see in FFVII Remake that Barret encourages her to hold onto the anger against Shinra to fuel her fighting spirit, but Sephiroth had said something similar to Cloud about holding onto his hatred. 
> 
> I'm pulling some stuff from Remake and some from Compilation.

It was storming outside, the heat lightning crackling against the darkened sky stretched across the dark space like luminous tree branches. With a sizzle and crack, a deafening boom would soon follow. Tifa watched from the top floor of Seventh Heaven, her hands pressed against the window pane as the wind battered against the glass.

A chain of storms had been traveling throughout Gaia over the last week, wreaking havoc on travel for those attempting to come and go from Edge. So, Cloud’s deliveries had to adjust and accommodate for inclement weather. Sometimes, it meant leaving earlier and coming back much later.

Marlene and Denzel were taken by Barret to the Gold Saucer for a week-long vacation, while other members of Avalanche were popping by every so often to help Tifa out at Seventh Heaven—though Yuffie made more work for Tifa by messing up customers’ orders and dropping an entire crate of Corel wine—and keeping her company.

Tifa was grateful for the companionship, but there was something else that she was more concerned with than just feeling lonely. It was a feeling she never truly had a chance to cope with and it was time to seek it out for herself.  
Yet, she was afraid of how Cloud would take it.

“This complicates things, but Cloud is Cloud,” Tifa thought to herself, watching the lightning streak across the sky in a blinding crackle. “I just want his blessing to do what I need to do.”

With that, Tifa resolved to get some answers from him once he made his return trip to Edge and to at least put her mind at ease. Cloud had left the family without a word for months, and when he finally returned after being cured of his own stigma, he was welcomed back.

But there were other reasons why she wanted to talk to Cloud.

Suddenly, Tifa heard the front doors open downstairs, which meant that Cloud was probably home from his deliveries. She sighed and headed back down to greet him. The lightning again flashing across the dark sky behind her.

Sure enough, the blonde mercenary crossed the threshold in his black boots and his hair spikier than normal. He still had on his driving goggles, which were slightly speckled from dust that was kicked up from Fenrir. He seemed calm, then again, that was Cloud’s demeanor.

“Welcome back,” Tifa said while making her way down the stairs. Cloud turned his face toward hers and gave her a slight nod with a hint of a smile. “How were the roads?”

“No worse than usual.”

Cloud sighed and pulled his goggles off, revealing the pair of mako-blue eyes that Tifa had grown accustomed. He then removed his gloves as he headed around the bar to wash his hands. He turned on the faucet, letting cold water soak the dirt and sweat away. Tifa watched as he used the bar of plain soap left there to lather and rinse.

“How was your day, Tifa?” Cloud asked quietly. “Was it busy?”

“Yeah, no worse than usual,” Tifa teased gently, causing Cloud to smirk slightly. “It was fine, Yuffie came by and helped...but sometimes I wish she wouldn’t.”

“That’s Yuffie, alright.”  
Cloud finished cleaning underneath his fingernails and then shut the water off completely. Tifa handed him a clean hand towel, which he accepted and dried off his hands. There was some silence between the two of them, but it was a comfortable one. After what seemed like eternity, the bar owner realized it was getting late and Cloud hadn’t had his meal yet.

“Dinner should be ready soon,” Tifa said. “You OK with beef stew?”  
“Always,” he responded.

As Cloud headed back to take a seat, Tifa reappeared from the kitchen with two steaming plates of beef stew. She set one plate in front of him and then took a seat in front of him. They spooned some of the food into their mouths and began to eat together.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. It was when Tifa was pouring Cloud and herself some water when she decided to bring up what had been on her mind for the last week.

“I want to leave.”  
Suddenly, Cloud choked on his water and started coughing heavily. Tifa’s carmine eyes widened in concern, but as she approached him to help, Cloud waved her back to show that he was fine.

“What do you mean?” Cloud asked while trying to gain composure, clearing his throat. “You’re leaving?”

“I-I’ve been wanting to for a while,” Tifa said. She dreaded looking into Cloud’s eyes when she said this, but she felt more determined to tell him what she wanted to for a while. “I have my own demons that I need to put to rest. I want to be forgiven for my own sins.”

Cloud’s mako-blue eyes narrowed slightly at this, but he didn’t interrupt. Tifa cast a gaze through the window of Seventh Heaven’s bar, and watched the heat lightning crack against the night sky in blinding flashes. She felt apprehensive about bringing this up with Cloud now, but she needed this journey. She needed to find her own path to forgiveness and redemption.

“I know Barret said that I can do that while I’m here at Seventh Heaven, and serving customers,” Tifa said softly. “But, he decided that for me. I can’t let people make decisions for me about what’s good for me and what’s not. I...I need this Cloud. You had your own journey to heal, and I haven’t had a chance to do that with the kids and the bar. I need my own journey. One that’s mine.”

Silence fell between Tifa and Cloud. She was worried about what Cloud might say, or if he would tell her that he didn’t believe she needed something so trivial in his eyes. Yet, nothing came from him.

She watched Cloud’s face, which appeared pretty neutral and then came the words that she didn’t expect:

“When are you leaving?”  
“Huh?” Tifa said, taken aback. Cloud’s eyes lingered on Tifa’s face before he took another sip of water.  
“When do you think you’ll be leaving?” He asked again. “Do you want me to come with you? Or, do you think you need to do this all on your own?”

Tifa was confused. This wasn’t the type of reaction she’d expect from Cloud, or maybe he was just being polite.  
“I mean...I’ll need some time away, so maybe a week?” Tifa said, her eyes glittering with unexpected tears. “Maybe a little longer than that.”

“Take the time you need, Teef,” Cloud responded, though he appeared surprised. “Why the tears?”  
“I just didn’t know if I was being too selfish,” Tifa admitted to him. “If I was being too selfish to you and the kids for needing some time to heal. Needing time away from Seventh Heaven and Edge to find my peace.”

The tears were rolling down her face in streams now, and Tifa tried in vain to wipe them away, but she just let them flow. She put her face into her hands, and let the tears collect in pools. Through her palms, she saw the legs of the chair in front of her skid backward, and a pair of black boots walking around the table.

Suddenly, Tifa felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her in a soft embrace. Tifa blushed furiously as Cloud Strife held her close. Something about this gesture made her cry even harder. There in the silence, with heat lightning continuing to flash across the sky, Cloud held her in a sheltered embrace.

“You’re not being selfish, Tifa,” Cloud muttered. “If anything, I don’t think you’re being selfish enough.”  
“Why aren’t you angry with me?” Tifa asked, laying her dark head against the knitted material of his sleeveless shirt. She could barely make out the wolf insignia on his shoulder through her blurry vision. “I thought you’d be mad about me doing this. For me leaving Seventh Heaven.”

She sniffled a few times before her childhood friend slowly lifted her face toward him with one of his black gloved hands he wore for handling deliveries. Tifa had forgotten how beautiful and strikingly fierce Cloud’s eyes could be, and there she was, staring right back into them.

“I’m not fragile,” Cloud said quietly. “I’m not so fragile about needing to let you do what you need to do for forgiveness. That’s up to you, Tifa. I can’t let my feelings be what holds you back.”

Tifa hugged him in return. The two held each other for a good while the lightning flashed again, followed by a thunderous boom. The crack in the dark sky, splitting a divide between light and darkness.


	2. Fallen Angel

**Fallen Angel**

_ Cloud gripped the blade of his Fusion Sword. He swung through a dense black smog that floated ominously around him. Lightning struck from the sky and tried to find the lowest point on the ground. He dodged swiftly, as where he stood was marked with the black evidence of the lightning strike.  _

_ They were within the mountains. Endless chasms of the black abyss were surrounding them. The daunting scene in front of him sent fear up his spine. The skies were a deep unrealistic shade of red, almost similar to fresh blood. Cloud’s eyes widened at the sight around him.  _

_ Suddenly, there were black swirls of smoke, almost like spectres of hell approaching him. He swung his sword through the figures, slicing through them as if they were nothing. They simply dissipated, quickly as they came. Cloud took a step back, and heard a sickening crack of bone.  _

_ He looked down and there were ghastly corpses lying on the ground, almost reminiscent of the massacre in Nibelheim and all the villagers that were cut down with Sephiroth’s masamune. The scent of blood almost caused Cloud to gag as he looked around him.  _

_ There were children. Parents. Elders and even dead Chocobos. There were the bodies of Avalanche members: Yuffie, Vincent, Reeve, Red XIII, Cid and Barret. Cloud took another horrified look around him and gasped at the sight of Aerith Gainsborough and Zack Fair standing off in the distance, their saddened expressions directed at a single person standing at the edge of the world.  _

_ She was standing there, her back toward Cloud. She was facing an endless horizon of fire and lightning. Her dark hair whipped around her from the blustering winds. Then, it registered in a split second, as what this woman was going to do.  _

_ “NO!”  _

_ Cloud ran toward her as fast as he could. His hands outstretched, but there was no way to reach her. The woman slowly turned around with her ruby eyes filled with an unrecognizable rage. Blood poured from her hands as she grinned menacingly as if she lost her mind. Slowly, she threw herself down the cliff.  _

_ Like a flower cut from its stem, or an angel without wings. The woman fell in almost slow-motion, Cloud watching in horror as she continued to fall. Her half-closed ruby eyes filled with starlit tears as she fell like a fallen angel with no hope of redemption or finding her way back to heaven.  _

_ All Cloud could do was watch her descend farther and farther away from him.  _

* * *

“TIFA!”

Cloud jolted himself awake. He tried to slow his breathing as he turned on his side and tried to reach for the spot where Tifa would normally be. When he found what he was searching for, he breathed a sigh of relief. The woman softly stirred and turned back on her side toward Cloud. Her eyes slowly opened through a sleepy daze as she peered at him with a bleary eye. 

“What’s wrong, Cloud?” Tifa asked worriedly. “Did something wake you?”

“Nothing,” Cloud said with a sigh. “It was just a bad dream.”

The two just stared at each other through the moonlight that poured through their bedroom window at Seventh Heaven. Cloud couldn’t help but see Tifa glow in the heavenly light, her dark hair strewn across her pillows like endless ribbons of fine silk. 

She was laying there on her side, watching him and there was a feeling of longing in his chest. But, he knew that they had been taking things slow since he returned to Seventh Heaven three years ago. They were rebuilding their lives together, and he wasn’t going to jeopardize that by intruding on Tifa’s vulnerability. Especially not now. 

“How...how are you doing, Tifa?” Cloud asked. “I mean, how are you really?”

Tifa didn’t respond at first. She looked as if she was staring off into space, searching for the right words to depict how she was truly feeling at this moment in time. But, it seemed as if there weren’t adequate ones to really fit what she wanted to say, nor did she have the strength to really say it. 

“I don’t think I’m OK and I’m trying to be,” Tifa finally admitted. “I feel like I’m trying to hold it together for everyone. For you, for Marlene and Denzel. For Barret and Avalanche...for everyone who comes through Seventh Heaven needing to drown their troubles in alcohol and escape from reality.”

She wiped her eyes from the tears that were collecting there. Cloud frowned slightly at this, wondering if there was something that he could do to help ease the situation. But, ideas weren’t coming and he knew that Tifa just needed him to listen. So, he kept quiet. 

“I feel...I feel like I’m about to break,” Tifa whispered. “I know that crying’s a waste of time.””

This stirred a memory within Cloud.

* * *

_ It was the middle of the night. Cloud was sleeping upright against the wall of the guest bedroom when he heard a pair of light feet walking outside of Aerith’s house in the Sector 5 Slums.  _

_ He gripped the Buster Sword and placed it onto his back before heading downstairs to investigate the noise. Cloud walked past the bedroom where Barret and Marlene were sound asleep and quietly navigated around the metal buckets and dozens of unfinished floral arrangements that were collected on tables and dressers.  _

_ When Cloud opened a side door, it led outside into the darkness. He smelled the sweet fragrance of the yellow lilies that were blooming and prospering. The rushing stream of mako flowed in a river underneath the little wooden bridge built outside of the home.  _

_ The mercenary continued walking the path that was dimly lit by lamp posts, and followed the flowers out in the back. He approached a small knoll that was covered in white and yellow blossoms. There, he saw the slender figure of Tifa standing and staring off into the distance.  _

_ Cloud slowly approached her, puzzled as to why she was here alone.  _

_ “Can’t sleep?” He asked. _

_ There was a moment of silence before she finally answered him.  _

_ “No...you too?”  _

_ “I heard footsteps” _

_ “Sorry,” Tifa said almost distantly. “Didn’t mean to wake you.” _

_ “I’m a light sleep sleeper,” Cloud said, slightly shrugging. “It’s a Soldier thing.” _

_ Tifa gave a slight laugh. Then, came an awkward question.  _

_ “That flower you gave me the other night, that was from Aerith wasn’t it?” _

_ Cloud caught off-guard by the inquiry, didn’t respond. Tifa slowly laughed, almost wistful at the revelation.  _

_ “I knew there was something weird going on, you buying flowers.” _

_ The ex-SOLDIER looked down, almost too embarrassed to really say anything otherwise to Tifa. It was true. He didn’t really plan to purchase or receive a flower from Aerith, but she just sort of stuck the flower with him and he gave it to Tifa when she had noticed it after he returned from the first bombing mission with Avalanche.  _

_ “They symbolize reunion, believe it or not,” Tifa continued. “I was curious so I looked it up. I tried to keep it alive as long as I could. But now, it’s dead and buried.” _

_ Tifa turned to look at Cloud, trying to fight through the tears that were forming in her eyes. Her gloved hands clenched tightly into a fist. She was repressing so many feelings...Cloud could sense it bubbling and breaking beneath her facade.  _

_ “Like the bar. Our home...and everything else.” _

_ She slowly walked toward Cloud, and surprisingly, placed her head onto his chest. It surprised him, but it was a moment that he didn’t want to ruin or break. He silently allowed her to cry into his shirt, hearing her muffled cries through the fabric.  _

_ “They took everything from us...again,” Tifa sobbed. Her cries broke through the night, echoing through the endless flower gardens that Aerith and her mother had fostered and cared for. Cloud didn’t know what to do. He remembered seeing Barret hugging Tifa earlier at the ruins of the Sector 7 Slums, telling her to hold onto her anger.  _

_ “Hold onto this anger,” Barret had told her, before enveloping her in a massive one-armed hug. Cloud had watched from the side, knowing that the Avalanche leader had wanted Tifa to build a fighting spirit against Shinra and to exact revenge and justice on the pains the corporation had dealt onto the Planet, and onto the deaths of thousands of innocent people below the plate.  _

_ Cloud decided to mimic what he had seen Barret do, hugging Tifa tightly as she cried into him. He cradled her close, unwilling to let her go beneath the Midgar plate. The steel sky that Aerith said had scared her. He was consumed with his thoughts until Tifa’s voice suddenly interrupted what he was thinking.  _

_ “Cloud...Cloud, you’re hurting me.” _

_ Embarrassed, Cloud ended the hug, awkwardly placing a hand on Tifa’s shoulder with a gentle pat. She backed away slowly, wiping the tears from her face.  _

_ “It’s stupid, I know crying’s a waste of time,” she said, staring at the ground.  _

_ Cloud remembered Barret’s words.  _

_ “That’s not true,” he said firmly, trying to take a stronger stance as a SOLDIER.  _

_ “Thank you,” Tifa said with a broken smile.  _

* * *

Cloud remembered that night well. He remembered seeing Tifa’s fists clenched as she blamed Shinra for destroying the lives of thousands in the slums. Barret’s determination for her to hold onto her anger, and to push forward in exacting justified rage against the evil corporation destroying the Planet. 

But, his growing concern was for Tifa’s heart. What would happen if Tifa continued to hold onto that anger? That anger that would soon foster into bitterness...and warp itself into hate. Cloud remembered promising Tifa that he’d come and save her, but he knew that it wasn’t just the physical saving that Tifa needed. 

He needed to protect her heart from losing itself into hatred...the same hatred that Sephiroth had taunted him with. 

_ “Hold onto that hatred.”  _

Justice would be one short step away from revenge...the evil twin of righteous anger. 

“Hey, Tifa?” Cloud asked quietly. “Do you think you'd be OK if I came along?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, I know it’s up to you in the end if you want me to come with you,” Cloud said trepidly. “I just...want to make sure nothing happens to you while you’re away.”

“Who’d watch the bar?” Tifa said sleepily. 

“I can think of some folks who’d be willing,” Cloud replied. “I just think it’d be nice if we can do this together.”

“You’re full of surprises, Cloud Strife,” Tifa softly chuckled with a hint of sleep seeping into her tone. “But, that’s up to you. I don’t mind the company, but just know you don’t always need to protect or save me.”

As Tifa dozed away, Cloud worriedly cradled her into his arms. When it seemed she had fallen back asleep, he couldn’t help but stare out the window where the starry night glittered like the night he had promised her that he’d make it into SOLDIER and return whenever she needed him. 

“The thing is, Tifa....I promised.”

* * *

The next morning, Cloud had called Barret to let him know of their trip. He asked him to watch Marlene and Denzel for a couple more weeks, to which the Avalanche leader reluctantly agreed. 

_ “I thought she had those feelings all taken care of with Seventh Heaven?”  _ Barret said gruffly through the receiver.  _ “Why does she need to torture herself by going back and revisiting those memories? It’ll destroy her.” _ _   
  
_

“Barret, I don’t think that was enough,” Cloud said in an urgent hushed tone. “I think she really needs to do this for herself. Who am I to tell her how she copes with this? Plus, you gotta give her more credit than that...she’s strong.”

He looked around to see if Tifa was nearby, but breathed a sigh of relief.    
  


_ “Then why are you going with her? Isn’t this her journey? Don’t be taking advantage---.” _

“Because...I just need to make sure she doesn’t go down the wrong path,” Cloud replied softly. “I want to make sure she’s doing OK and gets the help she needs to finally move on with her life. And...I’m just there to keep her company. That’s all.”

It was silent on Barret’s end, but Cloud knew that he agreed that Tifa needed to find resolution or let the pain continue to poison her every day for the rest of her life and end...permanently. The two men were able to settle their own pasts and move on. It’d be hypocritical and selfish if they didn’t allow Tifa to do the same. 

_ “Alright, Spikey,”  _ Barret said.  _ “Just make sure that the kids don’t know...I don’t want them to worry about their mother.” _

“Right.”

Cloud hung up his cellphone and turned to find Tifa walking down the stairs. She stared at the bar around her before turning her sights onto him. 

“You sure you want to come with me?” Tifa asked. “I didn’t mean to drag you into all of this again. I don’t want you to go back down this road. Not after everything you went through.”

“I’ll be fine, Teef,” He said. “Besides, we’re focusing on you this time. Don’t worry about me.”

Tifa blushed slightly at this, but nodded. Cloud observed her as she made her way around the bartop and poured herself some coffee from the pot. She added a little bit of milk from a pitcher into her mug before settling down in the seat next to his. 

He watched as Tifa stirred her coffee absent-mindedly with a stir stick before taking a sip. There was a glint in her red eyes, but it wasn’t the usual cheerfulness that was her character. Rather, it was a troubled expression and one mixed with several emotions that he couldn’t quite read. 

“Cloud? You’re staring.” 

“Sorry.”

“No...no don’t be.”

The two sat in silence. Tifa kept drinking her coffee while Cloud watched a clock slowly tick away.  _ Tick. Tick. Tick.  _

His mako-enhanced senses could hear the people walking outside on the streets, getting ready for the day of either building or just trying to forget their troubles. 

“So, who’s watching the bar?” Tifa asked quietly. “Barret?”

“Yeah, he said we can lock up for the day and he’ll swing by with the kids later,” Cloud said slowly. “But, once you’re finished, we can head out.”

Tifa nodded again, finishing her last dregs of coffee before standing up and placing the mug in the sink nearby the counter. She turned back to Cloud, who stood up. 

“Where do you want to go, Tifa?”

“Nibelheim.”

Cloud froze at this request. This wasn’t the answer he was expecting, and he feared what going back meant. They had tried with Barret to return to their hometown to settle their past and possibly rebuild their lives there. But, it was just too much. 

Their ghosts haunted them, and their demons taunted them relentlessly when they had returned to the place where so much was taken away from them. There was nothing left of their childhood there, and their families were destroyed that night when Sephiroth slaughtered everyone. 

No one would be waiting for them there. No one was left to remember two hometown kids. They were all Shinra employees dressed up as villagers. Their homes were exact replicas, but lacked the warmth and memories of growing up there.

It was an empty shell of a town, and to go back...would mean facing everything that Tifa and Cloud had hated about what had cost them their loved ones and themselves. But, Cloud knew that he had promised Tifa that she would do this journey, and he had no right to stop her. 

But, there was something burning in Tifa’s eyes...and it reminded Cloud so much of the blazing inferno that claimed everything he held dear in his heart. That was the moment he feared he’d lose Tifa again and there’d be no saving her this time. 


	3. Devil's Cry

It took longer than usual to navigate the terrain after the Lifestream had pushed through the surface of the Planet several years ago. The memory of Meteor seemed so vivid, despite it happening several years ago. Yet much like the new terrain Cloud charts on his maps, Tifa still feels lost with where her life is headed. 

Riding behind Cloud on Fenrir, Tifa watched the landscape change from the metropolitan that was Edge near the ruins of Midgar to the sandy and rocky wastelands leading toward Kalm, the young woman was still trying to put together her journey and what awaited her in the place she once called home. 

“Want to stop and stretch your legs, Tifa?” Cloud asked over the roar of Fenrir’s engine. “We have some time yet before we need to catch the ship over in Junon.”

He then started slowing down Fenrir and pulled off to the side of the dirt road. Tifa released her hold around Cloud’s waist and groaned at the soreness of sitting for long periods of time. She stretched as Cloud pulled out his map and studied the route they were headed. 

Suddenly, Cloud’s cell phone started ringing, causing the two to look downward. The call was coming from Seventh Heaven, meaning Barret was most likely calling with the children. Tifa looked apprehensive, but she nodded at Cloud before he answered it. 

“Barret?” 

_ “Yo, Spikey! Got some folks who want to talk to ya and Tifa.” _

“Put them on.”

Tifa watched with amusement as Cloud smiled a little at the sounds of children attempting to speak to him through the cell phone. 

_ “Cloud! Where are you guys?”  _ A small child’s voice asked. Tifa smiled. It was Marlene.  _ “I miss you both!” _

_ “Hey, Marlene, let me say something...Hey Cloud!”  _ A boy’s voice suddenly interrupted.  _ “Is Tifa with you? Tell her I said hi!” _

“Denzel and Marlene say ‘hello,’” Cloud said to Tifa, who looked happy for a brief moment. 

_ “Can we talk to her?”  _ Marlene asked.  _ “We haven’t seen you guys in so long! How long will you be gone for?” _

“Just a little while, here, hang on a sec.”

Cloud handed Tifa the cell, who slowly lifted it to her ear. She started chatting with the children. Barret had taken the children to the Gold Saucer, where Marlene and Denzel rode on the Gondola and played at the Wonder Square. They also managed to catch a show. 

“That’s great, you guys,” Tifa replied, a small tear forming at the corner of her eye. “I’m...really glad you had so much fun together.”

There was a pause. 

_ “Tifa, don’t give up, OK?”  _ Marlene’s small voice said.  _ “We miss you.” _

Tifa’s expression looked pained, which signaled Cloud to quickly rectify the situation and take the phone away from her. He bid the children goodbye and reassured them that they’ll be seeing each other again soon. 

“Take care, Marlene. Denzel,” Cloud said. “Put Barret back on, would you Marlene?”

_ “Cloud?” _

“We’ll be heading over to Junon soon, and catch the ship over to the next continent,” he answered. “We’re just stopping now to stretch our legs and get some food in us.”

_ “Aight, but Cloud? Make sure Tifa gets the rest she needs,”  _ Barret responded.  _ “I’m worried about her.” _

After Cloud hung up the phone, the two of them settled down for a small picnic out on the prairie grass. Tifa had packed them some ham and cheese sandwiches with a canteen of sweet lemonade. They ate silently as they watched birds in the sky fly over them. 

“The kids sound great,” Tifa said quietly. “I’m glad they had a chance to go somewhere fun. They need something aside from monsters and fighting happening all the time.”

“They’re doing OK,” Cloud reassured her. “Barret’s taking care of them for the time being. I think Cid and Shera also offered to take them for a while longer if needed.”

“That’s good,” she said, pausing only for a little bit before adding, “The kids...they need a childhood.”

Cloud didn’t know how to answer that, aside from nodding. Their childhood, their hometown and everything else had smoldered away into ashes, replaced by Shinra actors as a means of covering up the massacre and everything that had gone wrong with Mt. Nibel Reactor.    
  


They finished up their meals and tossed away the trash. As Cloud started loading up Fenrir again, he watched Tifa slowly approach the vast prairie lands that had been studded with wildflowers, noting the hues of different colors growing along the ground. 

The warm summer wind made Cloud and Tifa pause for a moment, close their eyes and breathe in the fresh scent of wildflowers, a mixture of sweet and earthy scents made them remember their travels with Avalanche, back when they were all pursuing Sephiroth. 

Despite the urgency, there were moments when they were able to enjoy in-between, like camping in tents outside of small towns and cities. The camping underneath starry skies that was not unlike the views that Cloud and Tifa had in their youth. 

Cloud turned his face to Tifa’s and noted how Tifa seemed relaxed at this moment. The more he saw her happy, the less he wanted to take her to Nibelheim, the root of it all. It pained him. It killed him to see Tifa anything less than cheerful and strong, but he knew that this was her choice. 

“Cloud? Do you think about Nibelheim?” Tifa asked abruptly. “I mean...the years before any of this happened.”

Tifa turned her head toward Cloud, and found him staring off into the world. She never really knew much about his childhood even as his next-door neighbor. They both lost parents, orphaned and alone to face the dangers of Shinra’s creation and complicity in destroying their lives. 

He didn’t know where Tifa was going with this, but he let her continue. 

“I think about Mama and Papa a lot,” Tifa said quietly. “They...loved each other. But when Mama died, Papa never got over her dying. I remember...he would sit at the kitchen table a lot, and sometimes, I’d come home and he’d still be sitting in the same place as if he didn’t move the entire time.”

She clenched her fists together, as if she was fighting back the urge to punch something. She started taking deep breaths, but her eyes were shut tightly, trying to block out the sounds and sights that plagued her since that fateful night in Nibelheim. 

“That night...Papa was out with the townspeople, there were so many people...running and screaming,” she recounted. “The air smelled so much of blood...the heat of the flames...Master Zangan was helping one of the villagers…”

Cloud looked over at Tifa, his eyes taking in the sight of the woman who was the last remaining survivor of Nibelheim. The only person who has connections to his past, and the only person in the entire world who understood exactly the pain of losing someone to senseless hatred. 

He reached over, and held Tifa’s hand tightly. She opened her eyes, looked down at what Cloud was doing and started blushing a fierce red. 

“Sorry...didn’t mean to lose myself like that,” she said in a feigned attempt at being cheerful. “I’m OK. Thanks Cloud.”

Deep down, Cloud knew Tifa wasn’t OK but he didn’t dare tell her how to express her grief. They stood together like this for a while before Cloud decided to break the silence. 

“I do think of my mom sometimes,” Cloud said, causing Tifa to break out into a small smile. “She was so vibrant, and there was hardly ever a time she’d be sitting still.”

“Your mom was always so kind,” Tifa said with a nod. “Whenever I walked by, she’d be in your garden waving hello to me. She...did a great job.”

Cloud knew what Tifa meant. Claudia Strife was a woman who had to deal with raising a son on her own after the death of his father when he was barely a year old. Cloud never remembered what his father sounded like or what he looked like, but Claudia always said he was almost an exact image of him. 

“Do you miss your mom?” Tifa asked quietly. “What do you miss most about her?”

Cloud pondered this and after he gave it some thought, he said what came to mind. 

“Her beef stew,” Cloud said, causing Tifa to laugh. “Mom’s cooking was really hearty and rustic. She knew how to keep us full without spending much. She knew how to stretch out a gil and get the best deals.”

The two fell silent. Even talking about their past in Nibelheim was difficult, which made Cloud grow more concerned about reintroducing Tifa to the place where it all happened. He was tempted to ask Tifa to reconsider her choice, but in the end, she said this was her journey and he had to respect it. 

“I think about Nibelheim a lot,” Tifa said. “What it would’ve been like if we hadn’t lost everything...if Mama and Papa were still alive.”

“Do you think your parents would approve of us?” Cloud asked, causing Tifa to smile shyly. “I mean...if they could see us from wherever they are now?”

“Does it matter what anyone thinks of us? You said so yourself that in the end, my opinion was the only one that counted.”

“Guess you’re right.”

They nodded and turned back toward Fenrir when Cloud heard the distant rumbling of thunder. They looked toward the distance and noted the dark ominous clouds rolling their way. They frowned at this, knowing that this wasn’t a normal chain of thunderstorms. Something was vaguely off about this. 

Suddenly, the clouds started swirling and then shot toward the pair of them like a speeding arrow. Cloud threw Tifa to the ground, covering her with his body as the black vapor surged over them. They quickly stood up and noticed that the smog was making a roundabout turn heading toward them again. 

Soon, the shapeless masses shifted into black spectre-like beings. Their sinister looking hands started reaching out toward the both of them, looking to grab hold onto them. 

“Gotta go!” Cloud shouted. They ran toward Fenrir, with Cloud turning on the engine remotely, the motorcycle revved to life without prompting and started zooming towards them. They both launched themselves onto the bike, and started speeding away as the black smoke kept coming after them. 

“What the hell is that?” Tifa shouted while Cloud stepped on the accelerator. He looked behind him to see Tifa’s hair flying through the air like whips, and behind her, the black smog continued to trail them both with endless abandon. 

“I don’t know, but now’s not the time to figure that out!” He shouted back. 

Cloud pressed on the gas as high as it could go for Fenrir, the engines screaming through the air as Tifa and Cloud pushed onward as fast as they could go. The black spectres started gaining traction, and were closing in on them both. They were flying at break-neck speed…

“Cloud! To your left!” Tifa shouted, causing Cloud to lean the bike over to the right. A black spectre had somehow managed to get right by their side in attempts to throw them off of Fenrir. Tifa cast a spell from her Materia slotted into her gloves, sending a steady stream of fire onto the creature. 

It caused some damage. The spectre let out a horrid screech, causing Tifa and Cloud to grit their teeth and attempt to get as far away from the spectre as possible. Cloud pressed Fenrir to its limits, Tifa continued to cast spells from the rear, 

Just as they were about to gain an advantage and avoid the spectre-like swirls of black clouds, Fenrir’s engines suddenly gave out, causing Cloud to brake. The sudden friction and opposing forces caused Cloud and Tifa to fly from their seats. 

Their worlds started tumbling and rolling around like a tornado, Cloud heard Tifa scream as she rolled up against the road, skidding and hitting her body up against some rocks. He himself fell against the prairie grass, though some of the thick vegetation cushioned his fall. 

“Tifa!” Cloud shouted. He tried standing up, but his leg gave out when trying to put some pressure onto it. The black spectres didn’t seem interested in him, however they were hovering over Tifa’s fallen body like vultures. She appeared to be unconscious, and one of the creatures started lifting her toward it. 

He tried to cast magic from his equipped Materia, but he noticed that some of the orbs had deep cracks running through it, meaning they were either disabled or worse...broken. 

“DAMMIT!” Cloud gritted his teeth, and looked around him. Frantically he tried to search the nearby surroundings for anything that could help him save Tifa from the spectres.    
  
One of the segments to his Fusion Swords had been knocked loose from Fenrir and was lying a couple feet away from him. He tried to move as quickly as he could on his injured leg, which radiated in intense pain. He kept moving forward, and kept his peripherals on Tifa who remained unconscious. 

One of the spectres started casting a spell, causing Tifa to levitate in front of it like a limp doll. Suddenly, she started glowing a devilish red, and manifesting in front of her chest, was a small sphere of light that had come from within her. Cloud watched in horror as the creature started to touch the sphere with its ghastly hands. 

Almost like steeping tea, black swirls of smoke started enveloping the sphere of light, almost completely suffocating the light out of it. Whatever it was doing, Tifa started crying uncontrollably, and then let out a horrific scream that sent arrows through Cloud’s heart. 

Never in his life had he heard Tifa scream like this.

“NO!” Cloud managed to pick up one of his swords and then hurled it like a boomerang through the air toward the spectre, landing a critical hit at it. The creature screeched in pain before disappearing into thin air. The sphere that it had removed from Tifa’s body floated back down into her chest. Her pale face regained its normally glowy complexion, but she remained unconscious. 

“Hang on Tifa,” Cloud said through gritted teeth. “I’m coming.”

He slowly put more pressure onto his leg, yelled out in pain, but kept trying to walk toward Tifa. Each step was agonizing, as each step made him want to black out. Yet, she was so close…

Cloud made it to Tifa, but the pain was too much. The last thing he remembered was seeing the blue sky and then, nothing. 


	4. Chaotic Heart

_ “You promised...You promised you’d come...if I was in trouble.” _

Cloud groaned as he woke up, his gaze met with a wooden ceiling. He slowly sat himself upright, and found a small bed underneath him. He was greeted by the sight of a small single room with wooden walls. A cheerful fire was crackling in the fireplace that was next to his bed. 

His nostrils flared at the smell of something fishy, and noticed that there was a bucket of dead fish next to the stove in the kitchen nearby. Probably someone’s dinner, Cloud thought to himself. 

“Oh good! You’re awake.”

An elderly man with a wicker hat was sitting at a round table in what seemed to be a mix of the dining room and kitchen. He was drinking a cup of hot tea and his walking cane was leaned up against one of the table legs. Cloud slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. It appeared that he was no longer injured. 

“Yeah, thanks...where am I?” Cloud asked cautiously, looking around him in a daze. “How long have I been out for?”

“Just outside of Junon,” the man said, taking another sip from his mug. “You’re lucky that some people were heading back out this way, they found you and your bike by the side of the road. Must’ve been two days ago.”

Cloud shook his head and looked around. His sword was propped up against the front door, and through one of the small windows he could see the silhouette of Fenrir parked outside of the house. Then, a surge of fear shot throughout his whole being. 

“Tifa!” Cloud suddenly said. He looked frantically around for her, and when he didn’t see her, he panicked. “Did you happen to see a woman who was with me? She has long dark hair and was wearing black?”

The old man frowned, his wrinkles creasing against his forehead as he thought about Cloud’s inquiry. Each minute that passed was agonizing, and Cloud was about close to losing his patience when the man slammed his hand against the table. 

“Oh! Yes! That pretty gal!” The man said, to which Cloud started nodding for him to continue. “Yeah, she was in pretty bad shape. Looked like she took a nasty tumble off that bike of yours.”

“We were getting chased,” Cloud replied in a slightly aggressive tone. “There were these...things. They looked like spectres. They were doing something to hurt her. They were casting this spell and there was this ball of light—.”   
  


“Now, now,” the man said, waving Cloud down. “You might’ve been going a bit too fast on these roads. Mind you, the Lifestream really did a number pushing up through the surface. Gotta be more careful next time. You could crack your skull open on one of those rocks.”   
  


Cloud opened his mouth to argue, but just shook his head instead. 

“About your friend, I think she made it out OK,” the man said. “She had a few nasty scrapes and bruises. Nearly clobbered the town doctor who made a house call out here to check in on you two. But, she’s outside resting if you wanted to go see her.”

Nodding, Cloud stood up and walked out the door. Outside, he was greeted by the sight of the shoreline near Junon. To his left, he found a slender figure sitting on a sand dune. Her back was facing Cloud, her hair flowing against the wind. Tifa’s ears perked up at the sound of feet walking toward her, and she quickly turned around.

Her face was marred by a few scrapes and there was a rather nasty looking bruise on her left shoulder. Otherwise, it appeared that she was mending and healing properly. When she saw Cloud’s face, Tifa’s expression softened. 

“You’re awake,” she said while Cloud limped over to her. “I was beginning to think…”

“I’m fine,” he interjected, taking a seat next to Tifa. “I thought you were dead. I didn’t see you inside.”

“Sorry,” Tifa winced. “I needed to get some air. It’s been a while since we’ve been near the ocean. I just wanted a chance to see all of this before crossing the water.”

The distant sound of the ocean crashing against the shoreline and the faint smell of sea salt made Cloud remember their last few adventures running all over the world after Sephiroth. He slightly smiled at the thought of Priscilla, a little girl who helped him get up the electrical tower on Mr. Dolphin’s back. 

“I wonder where Mr. Dolphin is?” Tifa wondered aloud, her eyes scanning the water. “Or Priscilla? I hope they’re doing well. Especially after Meteor fell.”   
  
Ever since Shinra was dismantled, the water in Junon was slowly getting cleaned of all the pollution that came from the military base that was built above the small town. Though not pristine or clear, the state of the fishing town improved dramatically since their last few rounds through the area a couple years ago.

“Tifa, do you remember what happened to you?” Cloud asked, causing Tifa to narrow her eyes. “Those things, they did something to you. You started screaming, and it was so bad. I thought for a second that you weren’t going to live through any of that.”

The fighter stayed silent. Her ruby eyes appeared focused, recalling the last moments of her being conscious. Then she slowly nodded. 

“They...those things...” Tifa said, clasping her hands together. “All I could remember was being fueled with this uncontrollable rage. It hurt so bad, Cloud. I wanted to go to the nearest town and completely burn it down.”

Cloud winced at this, vaguely remembering the nightmare he had of Tifa a few nights ago, but he failed to bring it up to her. Tifa seemed clouded by her thoughts and chose not to continue sharing and closed herself even further from him. He felt pained by this, knowing full-well what he was feeling was probably the same that Tifa had carried during the last few months when he had disappeared from Seventh Heaven. 

“If you want to talk, Tifa, you know I’m here right?”

“Thanks Cloud, but this is my problem. Not yours.”

The two continued to watch the ocean waves, deep in thought. Tifa appeared to be fully cognizant, but Cloud worried that her mental wellbeing was deteriorating. After the ambush, he was left worrying about whether she was OK. Her demeanor seemed slightly different. She seemed more reclusive and apprehensive. 

Something had changed within the last two days of their accident, and Tifa was not the same. 

“Tifa…”

“Cloud?”

“I’m worried about you,” he said, to which Tifa scoffed. “I mean it. You need to talk to me about whatever’s going on. You know that right?”

“I think you’re the last person to tell me how to go about sharing feelings,” she said rather bitterly. “I think you know that too.”

Cloud cringed at Tifa’s coldness, but he relented. This wasn’t the moment to be getting into verbal altercations with the woman who almost died during an ambush and was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. He had to trust that she’d come to him if she was ready. 

“I know, Tifa,” Cloud responded quietly. “I’m sorry. I just know how much of a burden it is carrying a lot of thoughts and feelings.”

“Don’t be,” she replied coldly. “I’m just not wanting to take advice from someone who barely takes any of his own.”

Tifa got up from the sand dune. She dusted off her skirt before looking at Cloud with an unfamiliar glint in her eyes. Cloud was taken aback by this, but he quickly stood up beside her as they made their way back to the cottage. He tried to take her hand in his, but was disappointed when Tifa slowly withdrew her own. 

“Not really in the mood,” Tifa said. “If you don’t mind.”

“Guess not.”

Cloud sighed and followed Tifa into the house, where they were greeted by the old man. They thanked him for the hospitality and paid him several hundred gil for the trouble. 

“Where are you two headed?” The man asked quizzically. “The world hasn’t been the same since Meteor. The roads are too dangerous for folks.”

“We have some old business we need to take care of,” Cloud said slowly, but firmly, while nodding to Tifa. “She needs to take care of something back in our hometown.”

“Ah, well in that case, might you take the ship across the ocean?” The man said. “I heard the trip is quite nice. Though, if you’re not into motion sickness, it might be worth finding another way across.”

Cloud groaned at this. He gets motion sickness, but driving was usually the way he overcame it. Now with having to cross the ocean, he was left dreading the trip. Tifa must’ve sensed this, and turned to him. 

“Why not get Cid to fly us across on the Highwind or the Shera?” She asked. “It might be faster that way, and Rocket Town is just over on the other side of Mt. Nibel.”

“Cid told me that the airships have been booked solid for the last several months,” he explained. “They’ve been helping people ferry medicine to Edge, and so, might not be a good time to ask them for a favor.”

Tifa nodded slowly. “Guess we’re just gonna have to do this old school.”

* * *

After driving several miles over to the Junon port, Cloud and Tifa docked and loaded Fenrir onto the cargo ship before heading up to the sleeping quarters where they’d be staying for their overnight trip. Ever since their conversation back on the beach, the two had felt an awkward tension between them both. 

Tifa opened the lock on the door leading into their room, and inside was a single bed. The two blushed at the sight of this and were trying to avoid looking at each other. True, they had been living their lives as if they were together. Tifa had a long time ago decided not to concern herself with whatever their relationship status was, or if it needed to be defined as long as they were happy. 

The children saw Tifa as their mother, and Cloud was the father of their young family. But there was never a moment where they explicitly claimed each other as husband and wife, or girlfriend and boyfriend . They never really thought it needed to be considered legitimate in the eyes of others, but they had always...assumed. 

But now that they were presented with this sleeping arrangement, Cloud wondered aloud if he should take the couch or if Tifa preferred sleeping in a separate quarter. But she merely shook her head before leaning up against the closet door, staring at the ground. 

“You sure?” 

“I’m...I’m alright,” Tifa nodded. “Sorry about before. I don’t know what came over me all of the sudden. Just...tried.”

Cloud wordlessly headed over to his side of the bed before sitting on it, all while watching Tifa standing up against the closet door. They silently let the tension subside before Cloud was able to prompt a discussion. 

“Tifa, where do you see us?”

“Hm?”

The ex-SOLDIER rifled his blonde spikes, trying to search for the proper words to capture his true intentions. The thoughts that he had been thinking about the last few months, and wondered where things stood between the two of them and in the future. 

“I mean…” Cloud said, finally returning his gaze onto Tifa’s. “I guess you and I never really discussed it back when we were getting things settled at Seventh Heaven...did we?” He then adjusted the gloves on his hands before looking out one of the portholes on the ship. “We just wanted to get back to living normal lives. Putting a title on it didn’t seem that big of a deal then.”

Tifa looked at her feet awkwardly, reminding Cloud of the time she had stood in his apartment at Stargazer Heights back in Sector 7 during their Avalanche days. Her eyes were clouded with sudden doubt and uneasiness, prompting Cloud to remember.

* * *

_ Cloud was resting on his bed. He had just returned from a secret mission with Jessie, Biggs and Wedge and decided to get some sleep for the night.  _

_ Suddenly, there was a gentle rapping against his door. He sat upright quickly, before hearing Tifa’s voice through the door calling his name.  _

_ “Cloud?” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ Tifa slowly walked into the apartment before turning behind her to shut the door. “You’ve been out for awhile.” _

_ Cloud nodded. “Just walking.” _

_ He wondered why Tifa was in his apartment this late at night, but she seemed to want to talk to him about something. She shyly sauntered across the wooden floor looking at her gloves.  _ _  
  
_

_ “I ran into Johnny by the way,” she said before shifting her gaze, examining Cloud’s face. “Says not to worry, he’s getting out of town.” _

_ “Huh...oh, that guy,” Cloud acknowledged, nodding his head toward whichever direction the red-headed snitch was probably running out of the slums.  _

_ “You weren’t thinking of leaving Midgar anytime soon, were you?” Tifa asked hopefully, her ruby eyes watching Cloud’s sapphire ones.  _

_ The ex-SOLDIER tried to play it off cool, he took a casual look around his room before addressing her.  _

_ “Well, it seems an old friend of mine is in a tight spot, a long time ago I said I’d be there for her, made a promise...so.” _ _  
  
_

_ Tifa gave a gentle laugh before leaning up against the wall.  _

_ “Can’t say this was quite what I had in mind when I put that on you way back when.” _

_ “If you want to talk, I’m listening,” Cloud said, cocking his head.  _ _  
  
_

_ “Huh?” Tifa appeared to have a pleasantly surprised expression on her face. “What’s with you all of the sudden?” _

_ Cloud outstretched his arms. “With me?” _ _  
  
_

_ “Like you’re losing that hard edge,” Tifa observed with a faint smile.  _

_ Cloud leaned back on his bed, posing in a rather concerned way. “That bad?” _

_ “No! Not at all,” Tifa said, clapping her hands together. “I like it. Maybe Marlene won’t be so scared of you next time.” _

_ The two shared a slight chuckle. Tifa giggled at the tension that was built up between them before stretching.  _ _  
  
_

_ “I’m really glad to have you back, Cloud,” she said mid-stretch. “Really glad.” She yawned and slowly started heading toward Cloud’s apartment door. “I’d love to catch up some more, but we both should get some sleep, yeah?”  _

_ “Yeah,” Cloud answered.  _

_ “Good night, then,” Tifa said a little coyly before turning the door handle and heading back next door for her own apartment. When she exited, Cloud looked after her longingly.  _

_ “Good night, Tifa.” _

* * *

Cloud observed Tifa a little bit longer before turning away. She seemed to notice that he was struggling with sharing what he was feeling, so she stayed silent. After what felt like eternity, the ex-mercenary groaned and leaned up against the headboard of the bed. There were a lot of things on his mind, but he was at a loss for words.    
  


“Tifa,” Cloud said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been more aware of your feelings...Marle would have my head if she knew how badly I made you feel.”

Suddenly, Tifa burst out laughing causing Cloud to suppress a laugh of his own. The old landlady of Stargazer Heights had been adamant about setting the two of them up since Cloud’s arrival into the slums. Tifa felt confident in taking care of herself during those years, but Marle wanted the ex-SOLDIER to be a “true friend” to her. Though, it was clear that she was counting on a little more than “friendship” from Cloud.

“Oh, Marle,” Tifa said, wiping a tear that spilled from her eye. “She’s such a dear friend to Avalanche. She took really good care of me when I first got to Midgar. When I was brought there from Nibelheim…”

Tifa’s expression wavered only slightly, but it was enough for Cloud to notice her downcast expression. They hadn’t really known what had happened to Marle. There were rumors that she had made it out, but Geostigma had caught up to her and killed her before the Healing. 

Then again, those were rumors. They didn’t need to be true. 

“I’m just hoping she’s OK, wherever she is,” Tifa said again, quietly. “I really do owe her a lot for helping me get through those years. The years when I didn’t have anyone and had to face a lot of growing up on my own.”

Cloud cocked his head. Tifa continued. “I mean, imagine me waking up in a hospital in Midgar, on a completely different continent than the one you knew. It was frightening. I didn’t know who brought me there. I was alone.”

There was a silence that fell between the two of them, and Tifa suddenly turned her back toward Cloud. Though he couldn’t see her face, Cloud could hear faint sniffles. He hadn’t realized before how much the woman had been holding onto the pain. He also felt a pang of guilt for not having fought harder for her to settle her own sins. 

“Tifa?”

“I was alone,” Tifa said, shaking visibly now. Cloud grimaced at this, noting how her voice sounded choked. “No one was there to help me. Nibelheim burned. Papa died...Shinra took away so much from us. They took away my home...Seventh Heaven...You..”

“Me?” Cloud said, taken aback. “Tifa, I wasn’t taken away.”

There was a slight quietness, but she replied. “They took you away from me. The kids...Shinra was the root of it all. If Shinra hadn’t messed with innocent people, then Nibelheim wouldn’t have burned. Papa would still be alive...Aerith and Zack wouldn’t have died.”

Cloud frowned at this. “What do you mean? Tifa, Sephiroth made his choice. Shinra did commit atrocities, but don’t forget, Sephiroth and Jenova were a greater threat to the Planet than Shinra would’ve been.”

“You’re being too short-sighted,” Tifa growled, catching Cloud off-guard. “Think about it, Cloud. If Professor Hojo hadn’t experimented on Lucrecia, then Sephiroth wouldn’t have been the way he was. It’s very much the responsibility of Shinra for causing ALL of this suffering. This pain.”

“I get it, Tifa,” he said, shaking his head. “But, in the end, Sephiroth still made his choice to destroy Nibelheim. He was confronted with the truth and he chose to take out the innocent people who had nothing to do with his creation. That’s still on him.”

“How can you excuse what they did?” Tifa asked angrily. Her ruby eyes glowed. “After all they did. They KILLED your mother! In cold blood!”

“Sephiroth did,” Cloud corrected quietly. “Sephiroth still chose to cut down the innocent. Your papa. My mom. He did that because he felt everyone was responsible for the decimation of the Cetra. He blamed the Shinra, but he chose the wrong people to pay the price.”

“But, you’re missing the point,” Tifa said bitterly. “Sephiroth was created as a monster. By Shinra scientists. They had such a huge part in how Sephiroth turned out the way he did. If Sephiroth hadn’t learned of his conception, don’t you think that it would’ve spared our families and our hearts?”

Cloud shook his head. “I understand, Tifa. But the thing is...that’s not what happened. We can’t keep questioning the what ifs. We can’t think like that. It’d kill us wondering what we could’ve done differently to change our present.”

Tifa scoffed at this, causing Cloud to narrow his eyes. “I know, I’m the last person to be saying that. But it’s true. It took me a long time to accept that reality. The reality that YOU told me I needed to accept and move on with my life. Is it not?”

“It’s not the same--”

“Yes, it is,” Cloud said. “Just change the names and you know that it’s the same.”

“NO!” 

The abruptness and coldness that came from Tifa’s mouth stunned Cloud. He watched her, bewildered at her change. “It’s NOT the same Cloud Strife! While you and Barret and everyone else thought they could settle their own little pasts, I had to be the one to hold this damn family together! I was the one who was told to stay at Seventh Heaven like a good little barmaid.”

“Tifa...don’t go there,” Cloud warningly. “We never said you had to do anything--.”

“You guys thought you were doing what was best for me, but you never ASKED me what was best for me,” Tifa spat venomously. “You assumed you knew what was best. You made those choices for me. I never ONCE got a chance to get out and settle things--.”

“What is this now?!” Cloud motioned to their room. “Why are we out here?! Because YOU wanted to leave. We didn’t stop you, Tifa. You want to blame us for your feelings, but you’re so focused on the past. LET IT GO!”

Tifa’s red eyes gave a glint of something unfamiliar, something that Cloud couldn’t immediately put a finger on, but it startled him. What was that emotion behind her eyes? Was that... _ rage _ ?

“Tifa?” Cloud asked slowly, concerned. “Are you...?”

The woman growled angrily and then screamed. She picked up the closest object next to her, a desk lamp, and hurled it up against the ship’s wall. Cloud jumped from the bed as he saw her flip over the bedside table and smashed another lamp into thousands of little pieces. 

“TIFA!” 

Cloud grabbed Tifa’s wrists, who screamed deafeningly. Animalistic, she was tearing at his arms with her nails, ripping into his flesh. He gritted his teeth as blood poured from the scratch marks, dripping down in small droplets. It felt painful, but he had suffered worse. 

“Tifa! C’mon, knock it off!” Cloud shouted to her. “KNOCK IT OFF!”

He held her wrists together before her usually beautiful face turned toward his. Her eyes were cold and dark, almost blackened. They seemed empty. Devoid of the light that Cloud had always found in her, and he was startled about how almost devilish her expression was. 

It wasn’t Tifa.

“What the--.”

Tifa suddenly brought her head forward, headbutting Cloud’s with a sickening crack. Cloud backed off almost immediately, trying to shake off the nauseating pain erupting in his head. The young woman continued lunging at Cloud in an almost poltergeist fashion. 

“Die! Die you sick bastard!” Tifa screeched at Cloud. “Go back to hell the way you came! DIE!”

“TIFA!” 

Tifa snarled and again lunged at Cloud. The ex-SOLDIER dodged her again, and parried her punches with his arms. He tried to defend himself against Tifa, and in normal circumstances, it’d be a little difficult as she was a formidable sparring partner. But, this unknown rage, it’s amplifying her strength that gives him a whole new set of worries. 

Through this unexpected battle, Cloud heard Tifa sobbing and hurling more furniture around the room. Smashing glass, feathers were flying from the pillows that were shredded and there was the sound of water gushing out from a burst pipe. 

Deep within those once ruby eyes, Cloud could see a tormented soul. 

“YOU LEFT US!” Tifa screamed at him, sobbing uncontrollably. She then spat out the next few words in a way that felt like pure venom. “YOU LEFT ME! YOU RAN OFF TO DIE! WITHOUT A SINGLE WORD AND YOU LEFT US! HOW COULD YOU?!”

Those words sliced through him, but he tried not to let those words pierce his heart. With unexpected force, Tifa shoved Cloud to the ground, causing him to feel a sense of bewilderment at what was happening in front of him. Tifa Lockhart, the one woman who he always depended on to be the joyful, cheerful mother to all, was becoming undone.    
“Tifa!”

“Don’t you DARE tell me how to feel, Cloud Strife!” Tifa roared. She swiped at him again, but this time Cloud was ready. He dodged her movement and then flipped the woman onto her back on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. As she struggled against his hold, Cloud cast Stop from one of his undamaged materia. 

Finally subdued, Cloud got up, dusted himself off and stood over Tifa, who was still frozen in place. A tear trickled down her face as her eyes changed back into their normal red color. He released the spell, causing the woman to collapse onto the bed, sobbing. 

“Tifa? What the hell happened?!” Cloud shouted at her. “Why the hell…”

“Go away,” she sobbed. “Just...leave me alone.”

Cloud didn’t know what to say to her, but obliged. He turned and left the room, leaving a sobbing Tifa alone in the mess that she created. 


	5. Death's Siren Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter has a description of a botched suicide attempt. Please don't continue if you're struggling with mental illness or suicidal thoughts.

The long road to Nibelheim was one that continued to test Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. After Tifa’s outburst and sudden erratic attack on Cloud, the two maintained a level of distance emotionally. It was something that bothered Cloud greatly, but Tifa didn’t appear to be in the mood to talk to him. Nor, did he really know what to say to her either.

After approaching Junon, the two spent a frigid night at Costa del Sol. Even the tropical climate and the warm summer breeze couldn’t warm up the iciness of their interactions and their curt behavior. When the two of them arrived at the villa that Cloud had purchased way back during their early adventures with the gang, they hardly said a word to each other. 

Tifa kept to herself and slept in a separate bed, and Cloud did what he normally did. He took a walk. 

The delivery boy took a seat on the sandy coast, looking out into the distance. The sun was setting into the horizon, causing the sky to turn all sorts of different colors. It wasn’t unlike the night that Cloud and Tifa had spent underneath the Highwind before their last battle against Sephiroth in the Northern Crater. 

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows before sighing. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He figured that by giving Tifa enough time to figure herself out, that this would be over. She’d be back to being the cheerful girl from their past days in Avalanche. The emotional support. The mother of two children. The innovative bar owner of Seventh Heaven. 

His...whatever they decided to call it. 

The man looked down at his hands and clenched them into a fist. He remembered a phone call he had given Barret earlier that day and basically alerted him that something was going awry with Tifa, and not to tell the children so they wouldn’t worry about her. 

He wasn’t exactly enthused with what Cloud had to say.    
  


_ “What do you mean you’re not talking?! Boy, I’m gonna smack you in the--.” _

_ “Tifa got angry with me,” Cloud responded coolly. “She’s not wanting to talk.” _

_ “What else is new?” Barret said gruffly. “What did you do? Why the hell did you let her go out on this trip if you weren’t going to protect---.” _

_ Cloud sighed as Barret spouted out several curses, and eventually held out the phone so he could give himself a break from the constant stream of attacks. Once the line went quiet, he knew it was safe to approach Barret again.  _

_ “You finished?” Cloud asked annoyed.  _

_ “Damn, Cloud you were supposed to keep an eye on her,” Barret said with a deep sigh. “Now, what am I supposed to tell the children when she comes home? They can’t have someone taking care of them if that person is going through hell and back.” _

_ It was a point, but there wasn’t anything that Cloud hadn’t said that could help with the situation. In fact, he was certain that no matter what he said or did, Tifa would go into a frenzy again. This...being who attacked him like he was some kind of monster. Her eyes had gone dark as if she couldn’t see the light anymore, and that’s what terrified him deeply.  _

_ The delivery boy kept his mouth shut, letting Barret express his frustrations. He wasn’t sure what to tell him, nor was he sure of himself. After the last altercation, he was tempted to abandon Tifa and to return to Edge alone so that she could continue onward herself. But even at the thought of this, Cloud smacked himself for thinking of such a heartless thing to do.  _

_ “Well, figure it out Cloud,” Barret said. “I’ll keep watching the kids. But, you know that Tifa has to get her shit together. Like yesterday.” _

_ There was a long silence on the line before Cloud finally agreed. “No promises.” _

* * *

The stars studded the sky on the beach of Costa del Sol, enough where Cloud’s eyes widened at the beauty of it. He remembered how much the night reminded him of that special night with Tifa when he declared his intentions of joining SOLDIER in order to impress her. 

He sighed, crossed his arms and placed his head on his knees. What a mess, he thought to himself. The breeze brought in the salty sweet smells of the ocean waves, the moonlight glittering out on the surf. Cloud wished more than anything that he was enjoying this moment with Tifa, but she wasn’t talking to him. Nor, did he think she would come out to talk at this point. 

“Dammit.” Cloud hurled a seashell that was next to him out of frustration out into the water, causing it to skip a fair distance out before sinking into the water’s depths. He felt exhausted, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness. There was almost nothing he could do for Tifa, and he was afraid of that each passing second, that she was losing herself to this anger. 

“Is it my fault?” Cloud asked himself. “Did...did we do this to her?”

* * *

After several hours of just being by himself to brood on the beach, Cloud returned to the villa, and saw that Tifa was no longer in her bed. A sudden surge of panic erupted in him, as he began to look around for her. She wasn’t in the bedroom, nor was she in the bathroom or kitchen. 

He ran downstairs into the cellar, and found the crates of items that had been accumulated from their past travels, but there was no indication that Tifa had been down there. He headed back upstairs and was confused as to where Tifa had gone, but then noticed that the back door had not been closed all the way. 

“What…” 

Cloud opened the back door and saw that there were some footprints out on the sand. Small feet that he recognized were Tifa’s. They were headed in another direction away from the villa toward a secluded part of Costa del Sol that’s further from town. Feeling a foreboding about this, Cloud quietly grabbed his Fusion Sword and attached it to his back as he headed down the coast. 

He hurried down the shoreline, and the sandy coast became rockier as more rocks studded the ground than sand. He looked around him. At least the moon was shining bright enough that he could see his path. The longer he spent looking for Tifa, the more worried he got. 

“Tifa!?” Cloud cried out. He continued walking and there, in the distance, was a small figure standing at the edge of a rocky face that went out into the ocean. The waves were crashing wildly against the rocks, and the tides were monstrously strong. One misstep and any one could face their untimely end with a drowning, or cracking their heads against the rocks. 

The small figure’s hair whipped wildly around her. Cloud’s memories of the nightmare he had a few nights ago of Tifa falling through the air caused him to breathe heavily. He recognized the person anywhere, and she was standing at the edge with something swirling around her. 

“No…”

The spectres that had attacked them on the way to Junon had surrounded Tifa. They had somehow lured her toward this edge, and they were casting this spell onto her. She seemed transfixed on the horizon as these creatures touched her. She didn’t move or try to fight back. 

“TIFA!”

Cloud ran as fast as he could toward the ledge. The spectres swirled around Tifa to form a kind of barrier, preventing him from coming any closer as they continued to enchant the woman. She slowly moved toward the ledge, almost teetering off of it. 

“NO! NO!” Cloud cried out again. He continued to fight through the barrier of spectres as Tifa was moving closer and closer to the edge, where the whirlpools in the tides would for sure claim her. Cloud couldn’t hear anything but the whoosh of the spectres continuing to swirl around her, but it was as if Tifa was being lured with a siren’s song. Her eyes were glazed over as if she were hypnotized. 

“TIFA! WAKE UP!” Cloud roared. “DON’T TAKE ANOTHER STEP!” The ocean waves continued to call out to Tifa. One of the spectres reached out toward Tifa, reaching its long arms around Tifa, bringing the girl up toward its faceless head. Almost like drawing to pull something with a string, the creature made this motion several times above Tifa’s chest. 

Suddenly, the orb of light manifested itself from deep within her. It was slowly being choked out by the magic that the creature was performing, causing Cloud to beg as he witnessed the light dimming as the darkness continued to corrupt it. 

Tifa’s eyes grew darker and darker, and started screaming out for her mother and father. She also started screaming the names of people who had been taken away from them, including Aerith’s name who she started sobbing and begging for forgiveness. 

“Please...PLEASE! STOP!” He cried. He was almost at the point of sobbing. The creatures suddenly started to screech and began attacking Cloud repeatedly with their long fingers that scratched at him. He tried to parry off their swipes with his sword, but there were just too many of them. 

Focusing on Tifa, and his heart’s desires, Cloud felt a surge of energy ripple through him. He managed to summon enough strength to perform his Omnislash limit break against the spectres who were ripping at him. He slashed through their masses, causing a horrid sound of screeches that were worse than banshees. 

“Tifa! Please...don’t jump!” Cloud shouted. “PLEASE!”

The creature who had been enchanting Tifa finally released her, and the girl fell forward, unconscious off the ledge. It was as if Cloud’s heart shattered and leapt out of his throat all at once.  _ No. _

“NO!” Cloud roared and out of nowhere, an immense speed and strength burst through him as he continuously fought through the barrier with ease. Reaching toward where Tifa had fallen, he thrust his sword through the mass, causing it to roar out in pain. 

The creature had swallowed the orb of light, causing Cloud to go berserk. He continuously slashed through the creature relentlessly, almost as if to destroy it and cut it down into little pieces. He never felt this much anger in his life, aside from when Sephiroth had killed Aerith and when Shinra gunned down Zack. 

The spectre turned its faceless head toward Cloud and tried to swipe at him, but Cloud thrust his fusion sword through its center, causing an immense screech to erupt inside of his head. 

“Go back to wherever god forsaken place you came from,” he gritted his teeth before stabbing it through again. The spectre relinquished the orb it had just swallowed as it evaporated into the air. The other creatures followed suit, leaving the night sky clearer and brighter with stars. Cloud frantically ran ahead, and looked down into the tides and whirlpools. 

“TIFA!” He screamed out. He could not afford to lose Tifa. Not now! The man scanned the ocean for any signs of the woman who had just fallen seconds before. “Gaia...please NO!”

Cloud wept bitterly as he searched the water for any way for him to dive beneath. Then, out of the corner of his eye...he spotted something. It was a dolphin swimming with ease in the current. It wasn’t just any dolphin either…

“M-Mr. Dolphin?!” Cloud called out to it. “Is that you?!”

The mammal squeaked before diving beneath the waters. Cloud was bewildered that the dolphin was still around, but surely enough, it recognized him. What was it doing?

“Are you...are you looking for Tifa?” Cloud asked almost smacking himself in the head for asking a question like that. There was no way that it could understand what he was hoping for. But, stranger things have happened…”I don’t know where she is!”

Almost as if by cue, Mr. Dolphin shot himself through the surface, and there as it was swimming against the current, there was something holding onto its fin. 

“Tifa!” Cloud shouted in panic. Somehow, Mr. Dolphin had found Tifa beneath the surface and brought her back. She was unconscious, and there was no way of telling if she was breathing. Cloud signaled to the dolphin to bring Tifa to the shallow water, and it seemed to take the cue. 

Cloud ran as fast as he could toward the shore, and as he stepped through the water, Mr. Dolphin swam close by. It didn’t look good. Tifa was paler than he had ever seen her, and her head was bleeding, presumably from being ran up against the rocks hidden beneath the water. 

“Please…” Cloud tried to find Tifa’s pulse and was not having luck finding one. “Oh god. Please. This can’t be…”

Cloud immediately carried her bridal style up onto the sand, and began performing CPR onto her. He started chest compressions in rapid succession, and breathed into her lungs. 

It was almost similar to when he had rescued Priscilla from Bottomswell in Junon years before. This time, it was Tifa who he needed to save. Cloud was exhausted, but he kept trying to revive the lifeless form of Tifa. He kept compressing her chest, and breathing air and inflating her lungs. 

Mr. Dolphin seemed privy to what was happening and it quietly swam nearby in circles, as if waiting for any sign that the girl would be alright. He squeaked and chirped at Cloud, who kept going. 

“Tifa, c’mon!” Cloud said. “Fight it! Wake up!”

This couldn’t be it. Cloud was fighting through waves of emotions, stronger than the ones that were crashing into the rocks on the shore. He had feared losing Tifa numerous times throughout his life, but this time…

Suddenly, Tifa opened her eyes and coughed up water. She gasped for breath, leaving Cloud speechless but overwhelmingly relieved. “Good girl, good girl!” Cloud held Tifa close to him as she continued to breathe heavily from having almost drowned. Mr. Dolphin, off in the distance, squeaked before flipping out of joy. 

“Thank you,” Cloud muttered as the dolphin sped away off into the horizon, presumably heading back toward Junon across the ocean. “Thank you.”

Tifa’s eyes looked up into Cloud’s. Once again, her eyes were their usual shade of carmine. She appeared dazed from her near-death experience, and confused from the way Cloud was cradling her like she was an infant. 

“C-Cloud?” Tifa asked worriedly. “What just…”

“Shh.”

Cloud hushed Tifa and continued to hold her close, the immense weight of potentially losing her dropping off of his shoulders. He was crying, and this bothered Tifa greatly. However she didn’t say anything as she let Cloud hold onto her tightly. 

“Please don’t scare me like that, Teef,” Cloud muttered. “I can’t bear to think what I’d do if you were gone.”

“Gone? Cloud? What happened?” Tifa asked, mortified. “Oh god...what happened?” Her eyes started sparkling with tears. “Did I do something wrong?”

This caused Cloud to look squarely at Tifa’s face. His expression was dubious. “Do you remember anything that happened just now? Seriously?”

Tifa seemed exasperated as she looked around her. “I-I don’t remember! I was just in our room sleeping, and the next thing I know...I’m here soaking wet and you’re upset.” The girl looked up into Cloud’s eyes, who withheld his emotions from overwhelming her. But, it registered into Tifa, who immediately grew calm. 

“Cloud? Did...Did I almost die?” She asked quietly. “Is that why you’re like this?”

He didn’t answer her right away. Why would he want to alarm her, or cause her more stress? But his lack of answering caused Tifa to angrily break herself free from him. 

“Ugh! Cloud! Stop it,” she said with an angry tone. “I’m not fragile! Stop treating me like a child and tell me the truth. Did I almost die?!”

Cloud turned away from her and silently nodded. There was no point in hiding the truth from her. She clearly didn’t remember what happened, and those creatures had reappeared and attacked them both. Yet, Tifa was the main target and for whatever reason, wanted Cloud to let them do their business. 

It almost accomplished whatever it did, but Tifa survived. Cloud was still here with her, and that’s all that mattered at this point. But, it was clear that whatever he was doing for her, it wasn’t enough. She looked miserable and upset at the fact that he had attempted to keep this from her, and didn’t trust her with her own experiences to understand and comprehend the grave nature of the events that unfolded tonight. 

“If you’re finished, I’m going back to the villa,” Tifa said angrily. She slowly lifted herself up, causing Cloud to jump up immediately. He took a grab of her arm, but she shook it out of his grasp. “Just leave me be.”

Cloud watched as Tifa walked herself back to the building, leaving him with his own thoughts. Tifa had almost killed herself, but it wasn’t to her own devices. Those creatures almost caused her to die. They weren’t fighting some creatures that can be destroyed in a normal battle. 

They can hold them off, but it seemed as if they were continuing to pursue them. That’s an unsettling feeling, and Cloud can’t seem to brush it away. He looked toward the horizon, where on the other continent, Denzel and Marlene were probably sound asleep in bed. They had no idea what was happening with Tifa, and Cloud’s heart unexpectedly started aching at the thought. 

Cloud quietly gathered himself before heading back. Once arriving, he found a pile of dripping wet clothes hanging on the balcony to dry. He looked through the glass door, and saw that Tifa had already curled up to go to sleep. She was unmoving, which meant she had passed out. 

He was tempted to go inside, but he couldn’t sleep. Not with what just happened to him occurring just a few moments ago. Cloud’s hands were shaking, trembling with fright. He was scared of a few things; ghosts, Sephiroth...but losing Tifa was one fear that he could never release. 

The man slowly allowed himself back into the villa, pulled off his boots and took off his clothes that were also soaking wet from having carried Tifa from the water. He quietly laid them out on the balcony next to Tifa’s and walked himself back into the bedroom. 

There, Tifa was underneath the covers of the comforter where she looked troubled in her sleep. Cloud felt something within him shatter. This feeling of helplessness grew, as the girl he fought so hard to protect was slipping away further and further away from him. The call of death was almost like a siren’s song, and luring into its depths, is a woman who was fighting against a storm. 

He was afraid to sleep, wondering if the horrors of the night will disappear in the morning. 


	6. Heart to Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a little bit of a canon divergence in this chapter. Obviously, we don't know what's gonna happen in FFVII Remake Pt. 2 and what exactly happened in the LTD, but it's just something that I wanted to throw in here. It's slightly Clerith, but I promise you, this is a Cloti fanfic.

The morning was not much better for Cloud and Tifa. The two of them had grown impossibly icier toward each other, and kept their mouths shut, aside from a feigned and polite “hello.”

They headed off on Fenrir a few hours later. Ever since the Lifestream erupted underneath the Planet’s surface, the old roads that Avalanche used to take on their original journey chasing Sephiroth had changed drastically. No longer did they have to cross through the mountains of near Corel, and instead, head straight to Gongaga. 

“We’re getting closer,” Tifa said, her eyes narrowing. “We’re getting closer to Nibelheim.”

Cloud looked ahead as he drove Fenrir, not acknowledging Tifa’s statement. Their relationship had soured within the last few days of this journey, and he wasn’t attempting to be the comfort that she needed, nor did he really know what Tifa wanted. He shook his head in frustration, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“You’re talkative,” Tifa sneered. “Guessing you’re not gonna tell me what’s up?”

“Why should I?” Cloud said back to her. “You’ll just throw it back in my face no matter how hard I try. I’m just skipping ahead to where we don’t talk.”

“Fine.”

“Fine,” Cloud replied back shortly and bitterly. “We’re done.”

After crossing the river, Cloud saw the beautiful valleys and cliff faces that made up Cosmo Canyon. The red stone glistened as the sun started sinking into the east. The village was close by, and so, Cloud slowed his bike down a considerable speed before coming to a complete stop. 

“Why are we stopping?” Tifa asked, looking around her with a frown. “Thought we could make it to Nibelheim by now.”

“I’m tired,” Cloud shot back at her. “In case you didn’t know, I couldn’t sleep last night because of you. So, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna crash here for the evening. If you want to go ahead to Nibelheim, then go right ahead. But, I’m not pushing myself any further.”

Cloud almost immediately felt a sense of guilt, but he felt too righteous in his anger to really address Tifa further or to entertain her desires. He turned toward her, but then noticed that she appeared conflicted. 

“You’re gonna apologize?” Cloud said with vindictiveness. 

“No.”

Tifa slowly turned her face toward Cloud. “You promised me that if you came, you’d let me do this at my own pace. This was MY journey. You hijacked it.”

The delivery boy scoffed, baffled at the insinuation. “What the hell?” Cloud was utterly confused. 

“Nothing, let’s say hi to Red and get some sleep then,” Tifa nodded and then headed up the village’s stone steps, leaving behind a bewildered Cloud. He angrily turned to the side and punched a hole into the clay walls before following her, refraining himself from cursing.

Cosmo Canyon was still as beautiful and spiritual as the last time Avalanche had paid a visit. It was when Bugenhagen breathed his last and returned to the Planet, and Cloud and the gang had waited down at the center of the village while Red had some privacy with his grandfather. 

Painting the sky was a beautiful sunset of purples, oranges and reds. The sun was sinking into the horizon, drawing out the stars to cascade across the deepening royal blue of the night sky. Soon, the sun’s twin, the moon will be guarding the canyon with its ethereal light. 

  
They hadn’t seen Red XIII since they fought together against Bahamut SIN in Edge, and now that the threat had been eliminated, he’s been guarding the canyon’s people. There weren’t too many cases where the group needed to come back together, but they had promised they would all see each other again whenever they wanted.    
  


Since then, Red had been protecting the village and all those who dwelled there, studying the ways of the Planet and the precious connections all living beings had with one another. The sacred Cosmo Candle was lit in the center, and there, sitting near the flame, was their beloved friend. 

Cloud and Tifa waited near the entrance to be invited in by Red, who had been deep in thought. When the canine noticed the two of them, he nodded at the villager to allow them inside. 

A smile crept onto his face as Cloud and Tifa made their way over to him. 

“Hello friends,” Red grinned. “Welcome back to Cosmo Canyon.”

“Hey Red,” Cloud replied back with a smile. Tifa scratched Red’s ears, which he seemed to appreciate greatly. “Nice to see you again.”

“What brings you back to this part of Gaia?” Red asked gently, sensing tension between Cloud and Tifa. “May I ask? Or is it too personal?”

Tifa’s face didn’t appear fazed, but Cloud quietly motioned for the two of them to talk while she shared that she would ask about staying at the inn for the night. As she walked away, Cloud and Red sat down together at the Cosmo Candle, almost reminiscent of the night that Bugenhagen died. 

“So what troubles you?” Red asked, stretching his long body. “Tifa seems...different.”

Cloud didn’t immediately respond, leaving the creature to look at him and then toward the direction that Tifa had headed. He sighed. “We were attacked.”

Red’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t speak. “I don’t know what they are, but they’re like ghosts and they seemed more interested in attacking Tifa than me. They cast some weird spell on her, and it caused her to go into this insane frenzy. It was like she was a monster. She wasn’t Tifa anymore.”

Cloud hesitated for a moment before adding, “I almost lost her last night.”

The creature seemed alarmed, but then nodded.    
  
“You’ll be perfectly safe here,” Red said, turning toward Cloud. “These grounds are holy. They ward off any evil creatures that aren’t of this world. Even when the Gi Tribe attacked us, the spirits lingered forever in those caves, unable to be absorbed into the Lifestream because of their negative energy. Whatever pursued you, cannot cross the threshold of this canyon.”

Red appeared to be deep in thought. “Tell me, how has Tifa been doing?”

“You don’t know? Barret didn’t call you?”

“No, I think this may have been something that was considered too personal to share with everyone,” Red said, his ears slightly pinned against his head as if he was nervous. “I’m sorry if I pried into whatever this situation was. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”

Cloud waved his hand, brushing off the apology as unnecessary. The two kept in near silence for a while, only hearing the distant drumming of the villagers who were taking part in sacred rituals welcoming the spirits of the Planet to guard them for the evening. 

The beast then smiled ruefully. “The spirit of Seto continues to guide and to protect us, even till this day.” Cloud nodded at this, remembering the journey that he, Tifa and Red took together with Bugenhagen into the depths of Cosmo Canyon, and into the Caves of the Gi before battling Gi Nattak. 

There in the back cave system, Bugenhagen revealed the petrified body of Seto, Red’s father, who he had long resented for apparently being a coward in abandoning him and his mother as the village was attacked by the Gi. Yet, it was Seto alone who fought off the tribe while poisonous arrows turned his body into stone, never returning to the village. 

Yet, Cloud realized how far Red had come with his father. The beast smiled whenever thinking of Seto and continued to guard and protect the canyon and her people. Since Bugenhagen’s death, Red had been settling down with a mate of his own, and seemed content with his independence and life. 

“What are those things?” Cloud asked Red quietly. The red-haired beast prowled slowly around the candle several times before sitting on his hind legs. He gave Cloud a piercing gaze from across the way, the Cosmo Candle flickering and dancing in between them. “Those things did something to Tifa. Are they..of this Planet?”

The beast seemed to ponder this and shook his head. 

“Those creatures,” Red said, staring up at the starlit night in the heavenly skies above Cosmo Canyon. “They are the very darkness from within human hearts, manifesting into the very beings that attacked you and Tifa on this journey. They possess a sinister kind of magic, but it’s one that there’s no absolute cure for. It claims many.”

“How do you know this?” Cloud asked curiously. “I mean, have you seen these things before?”

“I study the Planet, Cloud,” Red mused. “I also learn about the very evil that continues to lurk and plague our world. Whether it’s a physical being, or a spiritual demon that continues to latch itself onto unfortunate prey. Grandfather taught me many things, and one of which is not to dilly dally in the dark for too long.”   
  
Cloud felt anger bubbling beneath the surface. He felt attacked with so many different levels of emotions: Rage. Sadness. Hopelessness. Was there really nothing he could do to help cure Tifa? Would this be like when there was no cure for Geostigma and Denzel was doomed to die? Just like himself was fated to die until Aerith, from beyond the Lifestream, had sent healing waters to cleanse the stigma away from those afflicted with the alien matter that had contaminated the Planet?

“There’s no cure?” Cloud asked rather harshly and flatly. He then paused and tried to recollect himself. “Tifa’s doomed to be this way?”

Red swished his mane. “I wouldn’t say no cure...just not one that can fix all ailments at once. Tifa is hurting, but it’s not something you can fix with magic.”

“But, they seemed to want Tifa more than me,” Cloud said. “They left me alone, but they did something to her. Something that changed her. She’s not processing things anymore, she’s not opening up to me anymore. She’s stopped talking to me about what happened to her since Nibelheim.”

“The creatures are beings that manifest and feed on the vulnerable hearts of those who are nearing the end,” Red said quietly. “They’re things that will continue to influence. Try any means to get their prey to give up without a fight and to be consumed by their pain until their time has ended. They won’t go away until they fulfill their mission. Their quest. Their feeding.”

“But...why did they cause her to freak out like she did?” Cloud asked with a frown. “She lost control. She started attacking me, and brought up all these past memories and tried to hurt me too. She’s not Tifa. She’s not the same person anymore...she almost destroyed herself.”

The mercenary clenched his gloved hands into fists, painfully holding onto whatever sense he had regarding what had transpired within the last few days of their journey. “I’m afraid,” Cloud said quietly, looking into the flame. “I’m afraid that I’ll lose her...again. Every day, our relationship starts to destroy itself. I don’t know how much I can deal with Tifa being so angry. I’ve never seen her like this. It’s like those creatures did something to her personality. She’s not the same person I knew.”

Red gave Cloud a sympathetic sigh. He peered into the heart of the Cosmo Candle in thought, and then turned back to the blonde-haired man who seemed so confused about what the right thing was. Except, there’s no answer on Gaia on what the right thing was.

“You never lost her, Cloud,” Red said with a swish of his fire-lit tail. “Tifa is still Tifa. Regardless of whether she’s angry, sad, traumatized. She’s still the Tifa you know, and she’s still the Tifa that you love. Whether those beings did something to her or not, they haven’t taken away your ability to love her.”

“She blamed me so much for leaving,” Cloud said, frowning and looking down at himself. “I know I made my peace with my sins. But, she hasn’t forgiven me. I thought that by letting her go on this trip, she’d figure it out. She’d be Tifa again. Then we can go home. Back to the kids. Back to our normal.”

The Cosmo Candle seemed to burn brighter, but Cloud continued to keep himself quelled. There was no point in getting angrier about this situation. All the energy he spent on keeping angry with Tifa, ultimately burned himself out. Red seemed more intuitive to the situation at hand than he let on at the start. 

“I think what you’re forgetting, Cloud, is that you’re expecting Tifa to heal within a certain time. A time that works better for you and for everyone else,” Red said firmly, but not harshly. “In the end, this is up to Tifa on how long it takes for her to accept everything that has happened to her. That’s not the type of healing that can get fixed with magic or any materia.”   
  
“Red…Those things are still after us, after Tifa,” Cloud said, frustrated with how the conversation was going. “Isn’t there a way to keep them away from us? I didn’t even want to bring Tifa to Nibelheim. She requested it herself. She’s going to willingly walk into that and break down and hurt herself even more! Why would I let her go through with that?”

“It’s up to you on whether you want to be there for her, or to do what’s necessary for yourself,” Red continued. “But, know that walking away will not do anything to speed up the process of her healing. It won’t make her come to her senses and somehow be ‘OK’ any faster. This type of situation cannot be bent to your will, nor should it be manipulated to be. This journey is not yours.”

Cloud immediately stood up, and gritted his teeth. His anger was breaking through the surface. He felt helpless. He loved Tifa, and he was willing to do anything to uphold his childhood promise to her, that he’d come to her rescue whenever she needed it. 

Yet, he felt like he failed her. This was a monster that was destroying Tifa, inside and out, and here Cloud was trying to figure out how to make sense of it. He had tried to be patient and let her figure it out, but it didn’t seem to be working. What was he doing wrong?

“This isn’t your fault, Cloud,” Red said, almost as if he could hear the man’s thoughts. “Nor is Tifa blaming you for what she’s going through. You need to really  _ listen _ to her. Listen to her pain. Listen to why she’s really on this journey to Nibelheim. Did you assume that she would undo herself if she went back to your hometown? Did you just fear she’d lose herself upon arrival? Did she  _ tell _ you these things?”

The man fell silent.  _ No _ . He had assumed a lot of things about this trip to Nibelheim. Come to think of it...did he really listen to Tifa’s pleas to go on this journey? What was really there beneath the surface? He had resisted time and time again...then again, he invited himself on this trip. A trip Tifa had planned on going alone. 

_ You hijacked it.  _

Within the flickering fire, Cloud watched as the embers sparked and crackled against the sounds of the firewood splitting apart within the intense heat, slowly burning away into ashes. Red scratched his own ears with one of his hind legs. Then, with a soft huff, the canine crawled up in a ball before casting a look with one of its amber eyes. 

“Cloud, it was you who had once told Tifa that you’d be there to remind her when she lost her way? Are you not?” Red said. “Unless...that’s no longer what’s true.”

* * *

It was late into the night by the time Cloud entered the inn’s room where he and Tifa would be staying. He found her curled up on the bed with her ruby eyes downcast. She seemed to be struggling internally, but she was taking deep breaths to control herself. 

“One...two...three,” she muttered. “One...two…three.”

“Tifa?” Cloud asked quietly. “Do you need me to leave you alone?”

“One...two...three,” Tifa counted again. “No, Cloud...you can come inside.”

Cloud walked over to one side of the bed, and sat down on it. Tifa looked up at him with a bleary eye. She sighed. 

“I’m sorry, Tifa,” Cloud said, shaking his blonde hair. The girl seemed confused. “I’m sorry for trying to control this trip. I knew this was yours to begin with, and I’ve just been...overly cautious. I didn’t want you to get hurt. After last night, I thought I almost lost you.”

Silence. Cloud didn’t realize that he was crying, and wiped his tears away before Tifa could do anything. “I’m sorry, Tifa. I wasn’t listening to you. I wasn’t focused on you. I was focused on the trip, not you.” He then felt a slight pressure on his hand, and he noticed that Tifa gripped it in hers. Her eyes were sparkling. 

“I’m sorry, Cloud,” Tifa muttered. “I just don’t feel like me. The me that...you cared about. The girl who was always so cheerful and strong. I’m not her anymore, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be her again. You’re left with someone who’s damaged, and you deserve so much more than that.”

"You're still Tifa," Cloud said, shrugging. His eyes capturing hers. "I'm still here for the long game."

The two just stared at each other. Tifa sat upright and her face was near Cloud’s. There was a glint of something familiar in her eyes, one of longing. Without much prompting, Cloud suddenly leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Tifa seemed to be caught off guard, but only for a moment.  They continued kissing slowly, and each kiss grew hungrier and hungrier. They were savoring each other’s mouths that tasted of warm chocolate and mint. Cloud slowly held Tifa’s face with his hands. He drew back. Tifa didn’t attempt to hide the disappointment from her face.   
  


“I’m sorry, Tifa,” Cloud said. “I don’t think that was a good idea. At least not right now.”

The girl looked at Cloud, upset. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that,” he answered truthfully. “I just don’t want to take advantage of the situation. You have a lot of things on your plate. The last thing I want to do is to complicate things.”

Tifa looked at her knees. Cloud had a feeling what Tifa was going to bring up was going to be a painful conversation, but it was necessary. “Cloud...when will we ever talk about this? When will it ever be the right time?”

The man returned Tifa’s gaze and tried to withhold his desires. He wanted to be with Tifa, and it’s been god who knows how long since he felt her touch...Yet, whenever Cloud looked at her, she appeared to be struggling internally, and he just didn’t want to overwhelm her. 

“Tifa...I just don’t think we should be together right now...at least...not yet,” He quickly responded, but realized too late how that sounded. She appeared hurt by his rejection, and she slowly withdrew herself from him. “I don’t mean...look, I’m not saying we can’t be together. It’s just right now, you need to focus on yourself. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

She closed her eyes and turned away from Cloud. “Please don’t do this to me right now.”

“Tifa…”

“I’m just confused,” the girl said honestly. “You don’t know how difficult it was trying to figure out where things stood between us.” Tifa then frowned. “Especially when Aerith came into the picture.”

Oof. That feeling that Cloud had that twisted his stomach knotted themselves together again. He knew what she meant. When Aerith was still alive, Cloud had no idea how he felt about either girl, and both were really trying to show their affections for him. But, to be told, they just didn’t have a clue as to how they could pursue a relationship when there was a man trying to destroy the Planet. 

“Tifa, that’s not fair.”

“What do you mean?” Tifa asked, shaking her head. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just...confused. I never knew how you felt about me. Whether Aerith was alive, would you be with her instead of me? Would you have chosen her if I wasn’t merely a second option?”

“Tifa,” Cloud said shortly. “I don’t know how I felt about either of you. I was kind of stuck in the middle of something. Plus, I’m not entirely sure how much I was going through at the time. Remember? I was kind of not myself?”

“Did you love her?”

Cloud froze. It was an uncomfortable question, and one that had been approached before by other people, and he merely shrugged off the gossip. But, this was different. Tifa was asking the question and he couldn’t afford to be dishonest with her. 

He remembered the date he went on with Aerith at the Gold Saucer, the fireworks display that dotted the night sky. Although, to be fair, he was sort of promised a date from the flower girl after saving her from the Turks at the Sector 5 Church. Tifa, on the other hand…

* * *

_ It was late at night, Cait Sith had just stolen the Keystone from the gang. They were going to head out to the Temple of the Ancients the next morning, and so, ended the date early for Cloud and Aerith. They headed back to their hotel rooms after chasing the stuffed toy around the premises, feeling rather deflated.  _

_ “I can’t believe that son of a bitch…” Cloud gritted his teeth.  _

_ “Marlene,” Aerith said with a faint tremor in her voice. “I can’t believe they took her! After all that...Tifa is going to be so upset. Barret...I don’t even want to know.” _

_ The two nodded silently at the predicament, knowing full well the team couldn’t do anything about it. They had to follow Cait Sith’s orders, if they wanted to keep Marlene safe. Aerith bobbed her head, her brown plaited hair that was tied up with a pink hair ribbon swayed side to side.  _

_ “Well, not exactly the date I had in mind,” Aerith said. “But, I had a lot of fun tonight. Next time, let’s take our time and then we can go on more rides together!” The flower girl smiled at Cloud, who returned a small one of his own.  _

_ “Thanks for this, Aerith,” He replied with a nod. “It was fun. I didn’t know how much I needed this.” _

_ The two walked back together to the Ghost Hotel, the ominous theatrics of the simulated lightning flashing across the sky, and the doorman Mr. Hangman greeted them from falling through the ceiling on a fake noose. Aerith seemed to be apprehensive about something, and Cloud was curious.  _

_ “What’s on your mind?” He asked. “You seem upset.” _

_ “You know...our conversation on the gondola?” Aerith asked, her green eyes fixated on the stairs. “I wanted to meet you? I really do want to do that.” _

_ Cloud was confused. “I don’t know what you meant. I’m right here, and you’ve already gotten to know me so far on this mission…” _

_ “No!” Aerith said, frustrated. “It’s just, whenever I talk to you, you remind me so much of Zack. The way he talked, the way he acted with this ‘cool guy’ demeanor. I just wanted to know how much of you I’ve gotten to know during all of this. How much of Cloud Strife is the man that I’m seeing right in front of me?” _

_ The two fell silent. Cloud felt his heart beating against his chest. What could Aerith be proposing? That he wasn’t who he said he was? That’s why she asked him out on this “date”? It was annoying, but Cloud then felt himself loosen up.  _

_ “You know, I never really heard you talk much about Zack,” he said. “I don’t remember meeting him, but he sounds like an alright guy.” _

_ Aerith sighed. “I don’t know whatever happened to him. I sometimes wondered if he forgot about me after leaving me behind for a mission a long time ago. He never responded to any of my letters...I sometimes wondered if what I felt for him was real. My first love.” _

_ She started wiping her eyes from the tears that gathered. “I miss him, but I think he’s probably happy somewhere with another girl he met during his missions. Someone who can keep up with him and his lifestyle. I’m just another girl from the slums.” _

_ Cloud felt awkward seeing Aerith cry, but he embraced her as she started burying her face into his chest. It felt good to hold someone like this, despite him not really knowing how to hug. He remembered hugging Tifa a few nights back, and he basically crushed her… _

_ “Do you like Tifa?”  _

_ “Hmm?” _

_ “Tifa,” Aerith repeated. “Do you have feelings for Tifa? Cloud, I know how you look at her. It’s the same way that Zack used to look at me. It’s pretty obvious.” _

_ “I told you it’s not like that,” Cloud said. “Tifa’s….I don’t know how to explain our...thing.” _

_ “You might want to figure it out,” Aerith replied quietly. “Sometimes, people get hurt without you meaning to do so. This little triangle among the three of us...no matter what you do, someone’s going to get hurt. I don’t want to be the one, and I don’t think Tifa deserves that either.” _

_ Cloud was baffled. He was in a love triangle? Aerith chuckled softly. “Yes Cloud, if you’re oblivious. I like you, and Tifa likes you. But, I don’t think...you know for sure how you feel yet.” _

_ “Care to help me figure it out?” _

_ Aerith’s eyes widened in surprise, but they started sparkling green. “W-what do you mean?” _

_ “Tell me...how do I feel about you?” Cloud answered, posing in his usual cocky way. He felt himself waiting for Aerith’s answer. “You seem to have an answer.” _

_ The flower girl looked him close in the face, and then...she leaned in and kissed him softly on the mouth. Cloud shuddered at first at the shock, but then slowly reciprocated at the touch. Aerith tasted of floral and sweet vanilla, and it was something that Cloud didn’t know he craved. In fact...this seemed familiar.  _

_ “This feels…” Aerith gasped, breathing a little shallowly. “I don’t know.” _

_ Cloud continued to kiss Aerith, nibbling her neck and the two continued making out in the empty lobby of the Ghost Hotel. Aerith’s red jacket slowly slid down her shoulders, revealing her shoulders and Cloud held onto her slender frame tightly. This all felt so wrong...but somehow...so right.  _

_ “Do you...want to carry this out in the bedroom?” Cloud asked with a cocky lift of his eyebrow. Aerith was about to respond when her eyes widened. Cloud was caught off guard and he turned around. There on the balcony was Tifa. She appeared to have seen the two of them in this intimate moment. Her eyes were bewildered and hurt at the sight, but she nodded and turned back around to shut the door to her room.  _

_ “Tifa…” Cloud said, shaking his head. “Shit.” _

_ Aerith looked at where Tifa stood and looked at Cloud. Her pink lips curled into a sad smile. “Like I said, Cloud...Tifa’s not the only one who’s hurt.” _

* * *

“Tifa?” Cloud said, his eyes filled with concern. “That...I wasn’t myself. You know how I feel about you.”

“Were you going to blame your past persona? Or were you going to take responsibility?” Tifa asked quietly. “For the longest time, I decided to let you figure out what I meant to you. Aerith clearly held your attention...she’s beautiful. She’s able to say what’s on her mind.”

Tifa then clenched her fists. “When you left us for those months, I had to wonder if you’d ever come home again. Then, when we found your place at Aerith’s church...it broke my heart. I thought I wasn’t enough for you. I wasn’t enough for you back then, and, now?”

Cloud then felt himself grow hot in the face. No matter how he decided to go about Aerith back then, he was still responsible for stringing both Tifa and Aerith along. Two beautiful women were hurt because he couldn’t figure himself out. He questioned how much of his feelings were real. Aerith had declared that he shouldn’t fall in her love with her, even if he did…it wouldn’t be real. 

But what had she meant? That he was not himself and that Zack influenced him? There was still a level of his personal self that decided to go along with the chase. The feeling of being cool and accepted by women when he himself was a dork. 

To see Tifa’s hurt expression that night at the Gold Saucer, Cloud knew that he had without meaning to, strung along Tifa and Aerith. He wasn’t even sure what had happened, but he was so confused. He didn’t even want to be in a relationship with anyone at the time. 

“I don’t know how much I felt for Aerith was my own...or if it was because I was trying to be someone who I wasn’t,” Cloud replied truthfully. “I was trying to be Zack, and I ended up playing myself and the both of you. I...I’m sorry.”

“You’re not answering my question,” Tifa said, tears streaming down her face. “Did you love Aerith?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” he answered quietly. “And, you also know that I felt something for you too. Something that had been buried deep within me. Something that I had kept close to my heart that no one knew about. Yes, I felt something for Aerith, but that didn’t mean I didn’t stop loving you either.”

“What was I to you?” Tifa asked. “Was I just second-choice?”

“No!” Cloud shook his head vehemently. “You never were. Neither was Aerith. In the end, we are both back where we’re supposed to be. Aerith is in the Lifestream with Zack, and I’m home with you and the children. They both sent me back to you. Back home where I belonged.”

Cloud continued to speak. “I know that’s not a good enough reason. My reasoning is never going to be enough. But, Tifa, I need you to know something. No matter what happened among the three of us, you were always someone that I held close and dearly to my heart. Nothing, not even Aerith changed that.”

“Cloud...you’re forgetting,” Tifa said softly. “Being back where you’re supposed to be, is different than where you wanted to be. Would things have been easier with Aerith? If I had been killed instead?”

“Don’t you ever...say that Tifa.”

“I’m wanting the truth, Cloud,” she said, her eyes glistening. “It’s true. I can barely tell you what’s in my heart, and I failed to help you when I didn’t come forward sooner. My memories...I thought they weren’t real. I couldn’t help you sooner.”

The blonde was caught off guard. That’s what she was guilty about? Not remembering what happened in Nibelheim?

“Tifa, that wasn’t your fault,” he said, shaking his head. “I told you, that was mine. I couldn’t remember. I was too ashamed to come clean then. I couldn’t remember half the shit because Hojo pulled some shitty ass experiment on me and Zack. We’re all just a bunch of numbers and skin bags to him.”

She started weeping. “I shouldn’t have placed that on you, way back when. I was being selfish. I made you so ashamed to be yourself.”

“Enough!” Cloud said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Tifa, you were only 13 when you made me promise that. 13! You were a kid. We all do and say stupid shit as kids. That doesn’t matter!”

“If you hadn’t come after me, then none of this would’ve happened!” Tifa shouted bitterly. “I was being stupid and followed Mama through Mt. Nibel, and you were the only one who was brave enough to follow. You could’ve died too, and I didn’t remember any of it! Papa BLAMED you for what happened to me, when it was MY FAULT!”

Cloud felt helpless, watching Tifa sob as the weight of her guilt was physically manifesting itself on her shoulders. He hadn’t realized how much she was carrying. It wasn’t fair. 

“Tifa, you were only eight years old,” Cloud said. “You didn’t know any better. I made my choice to follow you because I was worried about you. Your papa lost his wife. I didn’t want him planning a second funeral so soon.”

He then motioned to Tifa to look him in the eye. “I made my choices. You hear me? I made the decision to go be like Sephiroth to impress you. I wanted you to be with someone who you could be proud of. I was mad at my own prejudices and weaknesses. Stop blaming yourself for what I chose to do, and what others have done.”

Cloud’s eyes softened at Tifa, and sighed. “There were a lot of memories and feelings that I was so confused about. But, my memories of you were what I kept hidden from everyone else. It was my own precious wish to be someone that you could be proud of. Being someone who was ‘cool’ in your eyes. That was my own desire. Not yours.”

He then held Tifa’s hand, and tilted her face toward his. “When I was lost, you found me. My real memories of who I am as a person...I wouldn’t have found myself if you didn’t have a special place in my heart. My heart protected you from becoming tainted with Hojo’s experimentation. It knew that it needed you to survive.”

Cloud then pressed his forehead against Tifa’s, who returned the favor. “I never want to know a life without you in it. Because if your life ended...mine would too. I wouldn’t be who I am. I wouldn’t be me, without you.”

The two embraced each other, holding each other as Tifa wept into Cloud’s shirt. He stroked her long hair lovingly and kissed the top of her head gently. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry,” Tifa cried.    
  


“Shh...you’re alright,” Cloud responded quietly. “Just know that...you are important to me. To my existence. To my survival. Everything that we had been through, Tifa, you were the person who brought me back from the dead. My heart held onto you. It still does.”

He then looked deeply into Tifa’s ruby eyes and whispered. “I’m searching for you, Tifa. The real you. I know you’re still Tifa. Whether you’re broken, or whole. I love everything about you. No matter how many times you pushed me away, or what you’ve said to me...I know deep down, you’re still Tifa.”

Tifa nodded and laid her head up against the pillows on the bed. Cloud looked at her, and smiled a tiny smile. “I know it sucks...but just a little bit longer. OK? When we’re together again...I just want us to be healed and ready to move forward together. It doesn’t change anything on how I feel, and know that I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes started fluttering shut from exhaustion, but Cloud leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I know you’re not ready to hear this yet, but I’m saying it without words. I’ll be ready to hear you say it back, when you’re ready.”

For the first time during their entire journey to Nibelheim, the two fell asleep in each other’s arms. Not once plagued by the spectres that had been intent on tearing the two of them apart. 

  
  



	7. A Homecoming

**Chapter 7. A Homecoming**

It was early morning by the time Cloud woke up. He opened one exhausted eye before groaning. He then turned to his side, and saw Tifa was still sound asleep. Her breathing was slow and peaceful. During these quiet moments, Cloud appreciated seeing the sleeping girl’s beauty. Her dark eyelashes curled upwards, and her dark silky tresses like endless spools of ribbon adorning the pillows they laid their heads. 

Cloud slowly reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. This stirred Tifa, and she opened her eyes. When seeing him laying next to her, she smiled. 

“Mm...morning,” Tifa yawned. 

“Morning,” Cloud responded. “Big day.”

“Yep.”

The two slowly rose from their bed and got dressed. By no means did last night’s conversation solve everything, but it opened up the door to each other and that was a major sign that things were healing slowly. As they headed downstairs and out of the earthen buildings, they saw Red waiting for them at the bottom. 

“Good morning,” he said in his usual calm tone. “I see you’ve gotten some rest. You look much more relaxed.”

Red then turned his head toward the sky in concern. “These storms have been reported all over Gaia. It’s not just a system that’s been passing through, they’re sporadic and appearing everywhere. Heat lightning, violent winds...but they disappear just as quickly as they come.”

Tifa looked at the skies in worry, but nodded. “I know. I’ve seen them back at Edge. I’ve never seen them last this long either. You’d think they’d run their course by now.”

Cloud frowned slightly, but then turned toward the road that leaves the canyon. He spotted the river, where they’d cross later in the day and reach their old hometown. There was still a heavy feeling that Cloud carried whenever thinking about Nibelheim, but he knew that there was a purpose to returning home...their old home. 

“C’mon, Tifa,” Cloud nodded toward the road. “We’d better get going if we want to beat the storms.”

“Best of luck to both of you,” Red said. “Please come and visit us again soon.”

“Goodbye, Red,” Tifa said kneeling down and scratching the creature’s head. “We’ll see you again.”

With that, Cloud and Tifa made their way to Fenrir that had been parked against the canyon walls. Cloud turned on the ignition and the motorcycle sprang to life. He turned toward Tifa who had been watching the sky curiously, but appeared to be calm. 

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “Ready.”

* * *

It was early afternoon by the time they reached the outskirts of Nibelheim. The reconstructed replica of what used to be Cloud and Tifa’s hometown.

They remembered the last time that they had paid a visit, but not without being reminded of the atrocities that happened within the span of a night. Sephiroth had gone mad, and set the town ablaze and slaughtered numerous villagers, including Tifa’s father and Cloud’s mother. 

“Tifa...are you sure about this?”

“Yes.”

Cloud held Tifa’s hand as they both walked into the village square. The water tower faithfully reconstructed at its center, where the two had made their childhood promise underneath a blanket of stars. Tifa looked at it, and smiled softly at the sight. It wasn’t the original well, but seeing it there made the woman think long about the journey she had been on, and the one that brought her and Cloud together again. 

They were upset still, seeing how Shinra had attempted to cover up the massacre by rebuilding all the homes and replacing the slaughtered citizens with their own employees. It had hurt Cloud and Tifa both to be called “liars” when confronting those who weren’t from their town.

“Do you remember us being neighbors during those days?” Tifa asked Cloud, who had been scrutinizing the details that Shinra had replicated. They were good, but it still gave a sense of being fake. Gone was the nostalgia, and instead it was replaced with a carbon copy. The emotions associated with their youth, had been burned down. Just like the town itself. “I remember how small you were back then.”

“I remember,” Cloud affirmed. “I remember how much I wanted you to notice me. Sometimes, I’d listen to you play the piano outside of your window during the day.” The man blushed slightly. “There was this song you always did, but I never got the courage to ask you about it. I think about it a lot.”

“Hm.”

“What?” 

“I just never thought you to be the music type of guy,” Tifa said with a slightly teasing tone. “Though, I did hear from someone that you’re quite the dancer.”

Cloud shook his head in embarrassment. “Yeah, I don’t like talking about that.” 

“I know,” Tifa said with a knowing smile. “Actions speak louder than words though.”

The two fell silent. They remembered how much their past included each other, but not enough where they were close enough to have many memories together that wasn’t tainted with pain, exclusion and loneliness. When they reunited in Midgar, it was one that started a new journey for them. 

Yet, they were brought back here to Nibelheim, where it all started. Tifa stiffened at the sight of someone walking out of her childhood home. It was a young woman with a child. She resembled her deceased mother quite remarkably, and it was enough to cause Tifa to pale at the sight. 

Cloud noticed this and held onto Tifa tightly.  _ This is such a bad idea _ , he thought to himself.  _ Don’t make this about you, you idiot! _ He argued silently.  _ This is for Tifa, and when Tifa’s ready to go. Then you get your ass out of here and high tail it back to Edge.  _

Tifa’s eyes shook at the sight of the woman who held the little girl who wore a similar white dress that Tifa had owned as a child. The one dress she wore that fateful day where she fell off the mountains. Despite Shinra being exposed for many things, it was never clear as to whether the world learned about the cover-up in Nibelheim. 

“You alright?” Cloud asked worriedly. “Tifa, if you’re not wanting to do this. We can leave whenever you want. I won’t judge you for wanting to stop.”

“No...no I’m alright,” Tifa said, shaking her head. “I-I just need a moment.”

She slowly turned away from Cloud. He looked around Nibelheim, noting how quiet everything seemed. The last time they visited was with Barret, and nothing but bad memories resurfaced for them as they attempted to find a place to call home once Meteor fell. 

Cloud was even having a hard time remembering the fond memories he had with his mother. At this, he felt grief. The years were going by, and he’s slowly forgetting the little things about his previous life pre-Nibelheim Incident. He even had a hard time remembering his mother’s face and the sound of her voice. 

He then looked at Tifa. She probably didn’t remember much about how her mother sounded, or how her father would look with grey hair. In all aspects, their lives have been taken away from them and they have to rebuild it to a sense of normalcy. But, could they ever be normal? 

“What’s on your mind, Tifa?” Cloud asked. 

When he didn’t hear an immediate response, he quickly looked around and saw that Tifa wasn’t near him. For a few seconds, his heart thudded against his chest wondering if something had happened again. It was when he saw her sitting at the water tower that he felt himself breathe. 

“Cloud,” Tifa called out to him. She waved him over, causing him to cock his head off to the side. “Over here.”

He slowly walked over to the water tower, and climbed up the step ladder to get onto the platform.

“I’m getting too old for this,” he groaned, causing Tifa to giggle. “When did it get hard to climb a ladder?”

“You’re aging like fine wine, Cloud Strife,” Tifa teased. Cloud frowned at this, but he was attempting to hide his amusement behind his stoic face. “Lighten up.” 

He took a seat next to Tifa and stared up at the sky. It was still light out, and the storm clouds for some reason didn’t reach them. In fact, they were keeping themselves at bay. They looked around the village. An exact replica of what was there. But, it felt hollow. 

“It’s Nibelheim...but it’s not home,” Tifa said before Cloud could speak. “It looks like what it did. But, I see it for what it is...it’s a place that I grew up, but none of my memories here are living. They’re ghosts. This is not our Nibelheim. This is not our home.”

Cloud sighed and looked around. When Tifa put it that way, he felt himself slowly release some of the anxiety that had built up from the trip here. “I guess you get what you get. They may have made it look like our hometown, but what makes our lives isn’t the buildings...it’s the people.”

He looked at the villagers out and about. “No one around here are people that I knew growing up. Not that I had many friends to begin with...but I don’t recognize anyone. Not the general store manager. Not the lady who lives next door to where my mom lived...nobody. They’re strangers, and I’m OK with leaving it at that.”

There was a pause, and then Cloud thought aloud. “I wonder why it was so hard to come here several years ago. Why didn’t we stay?”

“Because...we weren’t ready,” Tifa said. “I wasn’t ready, and you weren’t ready. This trip was just as much for you as it was for me.”

“Hm?”

Tifa looked at Cloud. Her eyes glittering. “Maybe you were worried about me...but, did you think that deep down...you wanted this too and that you were afraid of what you might feel being here?”

He felt himself shudder at the thought, but something clicked. Cloud wasn’t scared for Tifa coming back here. He realized at this moment… _ he  _ had been the one who was afraid. He had been adamant about keeping Tifa from Nibelheim, but deep down, he was petrified Whether his ghosts would come back and take him back to the way he was before he was cured of his Geostigma.

The crushing depression and guilt that weighed on his shoulders during the last few years. The pain that took him away from Tifa and the children. 

Unaware of his own feelings, Cloud had been resistant about leaving Edge to go back to his past. A shared past with Tifa, who had been more adamant about returning to Nibelheim. He wasn’t ready, but she was. That was OK. 

“Cloud, it’s OK to miss people,” Tifa said sadly. “I miss Mama, Papa...Aerith...Zack...I miss them.”

It was Cloud’s turn to ask a question that had been bothering him. “Tifa, how did you feel about Aerith? I mean...with everything that happened.”

Tifa was quiet, but then she gave a broken smile. “You weren’t the only one who lost someone that day at the Forgotten City,” she said. “I remembered how cheerful she was, and how confident in her feelings she was. She could come out and say what was on her mind, whether she was happy or angry.”

The fighter then looked down at her hands. “We may have liked the same guy, but I still saw her as a good friend...almost like a sister and a mother rolled into one. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been jealous...but never for her liking you.”

“No?”

“No,” Tifa said, staring up at the storm rolling through the sky. “I was jealous because how easy she made it seem. To be able to share her heart and love for you in a way that I never could. I felt that as long as you were happy, that I didn’t mind...so long as you didn’t forget me.”

“Tifa?” 

“Yeah?”

“I forgot you...didn’t I?” Cloud asked numbly. “I forgot you...when I was being who I wasn’t.”

She smiled sadly at this. “I guess that’s something I never really told anyone. The one thing that kept me going during that time you weren’t being yourself...was our promise. The boy who called me out to the well and to tell me his grand plan to join SOLDIER. Deep down, I wondered if you forgot our promise...would you one day forget me?”

Cloud wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry, Tifa.”

Tifa held his hand in hers. “It’s alright, Cloud. I never blamed you. I was sad because I thought you lost your way. That the Cloud I remembered would never come home.”

She then sighed. “While you were kissing Aerith that night, I wasn’t seeing you as my Cloud from Nibelheim. I saw you as Cloud who grew up and left me behind with my own past and my own memories that no longer made sense. I thought...I would be forgotten.”

Cloud felt himself crumble at this. Tifa feared more than anything...was being left to be haunted by her trauma and her past. He, while acting his own nonchalant way at the time, attempted to brush off anything that dealt with his past in Nibelheim. Including Tifa, the girl who he wanted to impress and who he had admired as a young boy. 

“Cloud, my biggest fear was seeing you move on with your life and leaving me behind,” she said. “When you left me and the children, I wasn’t angry with Aerith...I was angry with myself. I was afraid...of being the only person of old Nibelheim who had no one left in her corner. That, perhaps, this was my punishment for my sins.”

“Your sins?”

“That, the Planet rectified the bombings and the deaths of countless people, by taking away and effectively killing my own desires to live out a normal life,” she said wistfully. “That, I’d have to watch you being taken away from me...a life for a life and to suffer losing someone I hold dearly to my heart.”

She placed a hand on her chest, and started crying. “When you came back to life at the church during the Healing, Aerith led me there. She led me right to you. I didn’t see her, but I felt her. I felt her calling to me, and asking me to come to the church and to wait for you to come back.”

Tifa then broke. “She told me that you were coming back home.”

Cloud felt speechless at Tifa’s admission. For the longest time, he thought that Tifa would scold him for his visits at the church, for living there. For all the times he had acted as if it was a secret and hid it from her, that was a burden placed onto Tifa without him knowing. 

“She told you that?”

“Yeah. She did.”

Tifa then clasped her hands together. “I thought I was dreaming at first, but no. Aerith told me to head to Sector 5 Church, and that you’d be there. To ‘wait for him’ and sure enough, you came back. I thought you were gone for good. After that explosion, I thought that was it. I’d be alone.”

“You aren’t alone, Tifa,” Cloud said. “You have the children. Barret. The gang. Everyone would still be there for you. Even if something happened to me, I’d still be there with you. Those who leave us...it’s not really a goodbye after all.”

Tifa looked confused. Cloud continued. “We’ll meet again in the Promised Land. Our families...Aerith and Zack...they’re all waiting for us there when it’s our time. Like you said...dilly dally, shilly shally.”

She smiled at this, chuckling. “Since when did you get so wise?”

“I had a patient teacher,” Cloud pointed out. “She always knew how to get the point across.”

The two childhood friends continued to watch the storm roll past Nibelheim, curious as to why it didn’t seem to bother them this time around. No spectres either. Tifa wondered aloud about this, prompting Cloud to ponder the phenomena also. 

But mostly, the two of them sat in silence revisiting the one pure memory of their adolescence that brought them together again by fate. It was untainted by experimentation, and the motivations were based on pure love and wanting for acceptance. 

That was at least the one light that couldn’t be dimmed in a place where fire and darkness consumed them all. 

* * *

It was nightfall, and Cloud and Tifa had decided to stay somewhere else for the night as staying in a fake inn built by Shinra was too painful to fully accept as their reality. They chose instead to go and camp underneath the stars near the area of Mt. Nibel where there were some flat plains. 

These moments were pure. Tifa was smiling and laughing, reminiscent of how she normally was. Cloud was even able to bring back the silly conversations they used to have before. It was for once...normal. Normalcy frightened Tifa and Cloud at times, wondering if there would be a moment where they wouldn’t have it again. Or that some threat would continue to loom over them. 

But this time, it was welcomed. 

Every once in a while, Tifa would look behind her or above her for any signs of the spectres that had attacked them twice during their journey, once that almost led to her suicide. The bonfire that Cloud sparked and the food that Tifa brought in from Nibelheim was hearty and rustic that nourished them. 

“You know, Mama used to make these dishes when I was younger,” Tifa said looking down at their plates of potatoes and broiled mountain goat. “It tastes pretty comparable.”

Cloud nodded as he took another forkful and plopped some of the food into his mouth. “It’s pretty good. It’s starting to bring back a lot of memories.”

“Oh?”

“Not bad ones...just ones that I’ve forgotten,” Cloud said. He smiled. “Like how Mom would talk about how good things take time.”

Tifa smiled back. “Smart woman.”

By the time the stars came out, their bellies were filled and they were laughing until tears fell from their eyes. It felt good. To be happy. To see how the night sky covered them in starlight. The heavens beaming down at them lovingly, as if guarding them against the darkness of the evening. 

Tifa had laid out a blanket while Cloud pitched a tent. Though, he should’ve done this earlier, but the time spent joking around and reminiscing the good memories they had from the past few years made them lose track of the day. They sat around the campfire, watching the smoke rise slowly into the sky. 

It was peaceful, for once. They didn’t complain. 

“Hey, Cloud?” 

“Hm?”

“Do you think...we can keep doing this when we get back to Edge?” Tifa asked with a smile. “I mean...with the kids.”

Cloud shrugged. “Don’t see why we couldn’t go at it alone.” Tifa blushed at this and tried to hide her laughter that was bubbling beneath the surface. “I mean...Tifa. That’s NOT…”

He started laughing at his mistake and the two laughed until their sides hurt. It felt so good, to feel like it was OK for them to embrace their happiness and not fear it being taken away from them. Tifa smiled as she looked toward Nibelheim, where her smile faltered a little bit. 

“Do you ever wish none of this ever happened?” Tifa wondered, causing Cloud to stop laughing. “Any of this?”

“What do you mean?” 

“How do I put this…”

Tifa looked at Cloud. “There’s different parts of this that makes me think about everything. Whether if Sephiroth hadn’t done what he did, would we have been happy and together back then? Would you have returned to Nibelheim? Would you...have come back for me?”

Cloud wondered at this and then shrugged again. “I don’t try to think about that too much...there were a lot of things we didn’t expect, but it happened. I never thought...after that night that I’d see you again.”

Tifa shuddered at the chill of the night, and Cloud sat closer. He examined Tifa’s garnet eyes, glowing from the campfire like fireflies. “When Sephiroth almost killed you, I thought for sure...you were a goner and I was so sad.”

Cloud then closed his eyes. “I thought, if I couldn’t save you, at least the thing I could do was avenge you.”

“Oh...Cloud.”

“Tifa, I didn’t say it back then, but I-I’m really glad to see you again,” Cloud said. “I was really glad that you made it out of Nibelheim...I don’t know where I’d be if you didn’t.”

The two stared at each other, sparks flying into the air. When Cloud looked deeper into Tifa’s eyes, he found himself staring into the depths of her soul. Tifa smiled and embraced him. The two held each other, and let themselves feel what it meant to be alive. 


	8. Offering to the Blood Moon

High above their tent, the night was turning into an ominous red glow. The wind was slowly picking up speed, as if the storm was careening toward their way. Cloud and Tifa felt something was off, and decided to head outside of their shelter to take a look at the storm that was finally making its appearance. 

“What’s going on?” Cloud asked Tifa, who had been looking at the horizon. “I thought the storms weren’t coming our way anymore.”

“Something’s wrong.” 

Cloud looked at the sky, and frowned at the sight of the moon. Instead of a cold, silvery glow. It was a bright blood red, and the light shining onto the ground looked like an endless red sea. The two looked at their hands and observed their surroundings that were bathed in the creepy glow. 

Suddenly, Tifa looked toward Cloud before pointing out something on the horizon. It was a growing mass that was shortening in distance. It was in a few seconds that Cloud suddenly called out to Tifa to head back to Fenrir. The night turned bloody, and a red ominous glow cast itself on everything around the two of them. 

“Shit! They’re back!” Cloud shouted. “Tifa! We gotta move!”

Just as Cloud and Tifa made it to Fenrir, there was a blast of ice cold air. Cloud turned to face one of the spectres which screeched into his face. With a sickening crack, Cloud felt himself being thrown up against the rocks. He felt his arm twist and pop, knowing that he dislocated his shoulder. 

“Cloud!” Tifa screamed. She ran toward him, but was cut off by the spectres. The woman swung her leg through the air and performed a somersault kick to send it flying back into the rocks, where it evaporated into thin air. “I’m coming! Don’t move!”

“No worries there,” Cloud hissed examining his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and popped his shoulder back in causing him to cry out in pain. “Take your time.” He slowly stood up and drank an Elixir, which cured him from most of the ailments that were inflicted onto him before he grabbed the hilt of his Fusion Sword. 

“Tifa! Behind you!”

Tifa quickly somersaulted backward, kicking a spectre into oblivion as she avoided another spectre who had attempted to take hold of her. While in midair, she grabbed hold of a spectre and performed her Meteor Strike limit break that crushed the being into the ground in an earth shattering blow. 

“You doing alright?” Tifa called out to Cloud who slashed through multiple spectres at once. “This should be a piece of cake in comparison to all the other times we’ve had to save each other’s asses.”

Cloud held his sword to his face before glowing gold. In rapid succession, he slashed through more spectres with his Omnislash Limit Break. Tifa’s eyes followed him as he aggressively destroyed dozens of creatures with his speed and precision. 

She then summoned her strength and focused on the three spectres in front of her. Opening her blood red eyes, Tifa dashed forward and with a glowing fist, delivered a catastrophic blow of her Final Heaven limit break. Though, by doing so, she staggered and breathed heavily. 

“Cloud...there’s just too many.”

“Get behind me.”

The two put their backs together as the creatures started swirling around them in an almost tornado like fashion. The high-speed wind started to make their feet lose traction. They kneeled, trying to distribute the weight and get as low to the ground as possible, but it was no use. 

“We’ll get out of this Tifa,” Cloud shouted over the roaring winds. “We’ll make it out of this. We’ve done it twice already. We can do it a third time. Just hang on.”

“Shit! Cloud!” Tifa started gritting her teeth as she tried to punch the spectre in front of her. It evaporated into the air upon contact, leaving her to try and fend off the rest of the creatures that were mobbing her. 

The sheer number of creatures was overwhelming, and they were attempting to pull them apart. Cloud held onto Tifa’s hand, but the immense pressure that they both felt from trying to hang onto each other was getting to be too much. The two looked deeply into each other's eyes, attempting to avoid the feeling of losing themselves into the chaos. 

“Tifa!” Cloud shouted. “Tifa hang on!” The opposing forces continued to rip and tear at Cloud and Tifa, who were trying to hold onto each other as they were slowly being swallowed up by the black masses of the spectres. They didn’t know what to do. Their arms were constrained, except for their hands that were grasping for each other. 

This was their only lifeline. Though he felt the worst cold and pain he felt in some time, Cloud was determined not to let them get swallowed by the beings. But there was no point in fighting...it had only come for one person, and she was getting ready to make a decision. Tifa looked at Cloud, with a mix of acceptance and sadness. She had given up. 

“It only wants me, Cloud,” Tifa said, her eyes brimming with tears. “It’s time to let go.”

“NO!” He begged. “Tifa, we came so far! Not now! We have so much we have left to do. Not like this. Please, this can’t be the end of it.”

“It’s OK,” Tifa said, her face looking like she accepted what was to come next. “Once you let go, they’ll release you.”

Tifa’s fingers started loosening, and Cloud felt her slowly releasing her grip. “Take care of the children...tell them I love them.”

She nodded to him, and Cloud felt his heart burst as Tifa let go of his hand and she was slowly swallowed into a swirling puff of black smoke. “Please, Tifa…”

“I love you, Cloud,” Tifa said with a small smile. “I hope we can see each other again.”

Her beautiful ruby eyes were glittering with tears as she released her grasp, leaving Cloud to only be reaching for air. The woman was consumed by the black mass of swirling smoke. After what felt like eternity, the smoke dissipated, and Cloud lost sight of Tifa. 

What appeared to be a blood moon, had disappeared. There was no sign of any disturbance or a fight anywhere. 

Soon, he fell to the ground with a hard thud. Cloud slowly gathered himself together. To his horror, Tifa was gone. There was no trace of her. All that she left behind was her tear-drop earring that she normally wore on her left ear. Cloud shakingly walked over to the spot, knelt down and picked up the earring. He felt a sudden pit of hollowness as he looked up at the sky. There was only but the sunrise. 

“Tifa…” Cloud said. 

He couldn’t believe it. He was hoping that there was something else that would indicate where she was. But, the longer Cloud searched, the sooner it became clear that Tifa wasn’t there anymore. Cloud’s mako-infused eyes were brimming with tears, but he kept walking around in hopes that he may have missed something. 

“C’mon, Tifa,” Cloud said, scanning the area. “Please...say something. ANYTHING.” He left no stone unturned, he had hopped onto Fenrir and zoomed off several miles in all directions to see if the spectres were haunting the area. But dawn was approaching, and the birds were chirping cheerfully. 

After returning to their campsite, Cloud walked there dejected. He was feeling himself break down again. It wasn’t quite like when Aerith or Zack had died right in front of him. No...this felt too intimate. This felt so personal...it felt as if a part of himself had been ripped out of his body. He felt so empty. 

“No…” 

Cloud felt his breathing grow shallow as he tried to gain composure, but it was all too much. This was the ultimate feeling of loss. Tifa was gone. There was no evidence that a woman named Tifa Lockhart even existed. The only thing she left behind was her earring. 

A blood curdling scream that was horrifying and unrecognizable rang out through the air, almost like a wounded dying animal that was reaching its last leg. Cloud couldn’t even recognize it as his own, but it was impossible to stop. His heart was breaking into millions of pieces, and his bones felt like turning into dust. 

How could this have been happening? She was doing so well. They were doing better. They were on their back to the way things were supposed to be. Why did this have to happen? _Why?_

Cloud bitterly wept, not wanting to think about coming home to tell the children that their mother was gone. To let the rest of Avalanche that Tifa was taken away, not knowing if there’s even a chance in hell that she was still alive somewhere...barely existent. He himself felt an overwhelming grief of losing the most important person in his life. 

He fell to his knees, his hands grabbing hold of the grass. He started pounding against the ground relentlessly as he let his heart break endlessly as he thought about how scared Tifa must’ve been...and the resignation to her fate as she allowed the spectres to take her away. 

_“What will I tell the kids?”_ Cloud thought, scared at the realization. _“That their mom is dead? What will they think? They trusted me to take care of her, and now...she’s…”_

Cloud sighed and leaned up against the rocks. His resolve was breaking, but he needed to keep pushing himself forward. Whether Tifa was there with him or not. So, he slowly pulled himself up and pulled out his cell phone. He felt his hands shaking as he dialed Barret’s number. 

It was not received well. 

_“WHAT?!”_ Barret roared over the phone. _“CLOUD!? WHAT DID YOU DO?!”_

“I didn’t do enough,” Cloud said quietly. “They took her away...I don’t know where...I don’t even know...Barret…”

There was silence on the phone. 

“Barret?”

_“Get yo ass to Cosmo Canyon. We’re gonna go after her. Call the rest of the gang. This ain’t no time to be dilly dallying.”_

“I don’t even know if she’s alive,” Cloud muttered underneath his breath. “What’ll we tell the kids?”

_“Nothing. The kids don’t need to know that Tifa’s dead, yet,”_ Barret responded. _“That’d make it a million times worse. No. We need to get going. Find Tifa, and bring her home. I knew this trip was a bad idea. Cloud meet the rest of us at Red’s. We need to get some answers. We need to find out where those things take their victims.”_

Cloud kept silent as Barret continued to blurt out instructions through the cell phone. “How are the kids?”

_“They’re fine. They think you’re still on your trip. No need to worry about them until we know for sure what happened. Until then, go to Red’s, and Cloud?”_

“Yeah?”

_“We’ll get her back. Don’t give up yet. The last thing we need is for you to throw in the towel before we even start. So, don’t worry. Tifa’s a fighter. She always has been. Now, she needs you to fight for her.”_

“Right.”

Cloud hung up the phone and groaned at the soreness of his injuries. While the Elixir cured him mostly of negative status effects, he was still feeling the ramifications of the fight, and never got over the chill of what spell the spectres cast on him in their attempt to get to Tifa. 

He slowly made his way to Fenrir, collected his Fusion Sword and hopped on. He turned on the ignition before making his way back to Cosmo Canyon, though he was one passenger short. Cloud tried to keep himself together, but it was too much. Everything was too much. 

Fenrir roared to life, and Cloud slowly started heading toward the horizon, where the unknown was waiting. He had no idea what to expect, but he refused to believe that Tifa was no longer alive. Nor, did he feel that she wasn’t somewhere he couldn’t reach her. 

The fields leading back toward Cosmo Canyon were blurring past Cloud as he drove as fast as he could. He almost hit a few roadblocks on the way back, but he refused to stop. There were too many things that he regretted, and the last thing he wanted to regret was missing out on a life with Tifa. 

“No, not again,” Cloud said angrily. “I won’t let it happen again. Not this time.”


	9. A Spiritual Pursuit

It was a couple hours later until Cloud arrived outside the walls of Cosmo Canyon once again. There, he pulled to a complete stop before hopping off of Fenrir. 

Up the stairs, he was greeted by the sight of his friends sitting around the Cosmo Candle: Cid Highwind who was taking the usual drag of cigarettes and cursing up a storm. Yuffie Kisaragi, the White Rose of Wutai and her usual Materia obsessed self trying to converse with the stoic and dark Vincent Valentine. Reeve Tuesti wasn’t there, presumably busy with WHO work, but sent the animatronic Cait Sith in his place. 

“Cloud!” Yuffie greeted him, waving at him. “Come over here!”

“Yuffie.” He acknowledged them all before finding Barret and Red who were watching him wearily. Barret’s face looked aged as if he hadn’t slept well, and there was an empty glass in his hand, presumably from a Cosmo Canyon that the village was known for. 

“Well...long time no see,” Cloud mumbled. “Not exactly the place where I thought I’d be seeing you.”

Barret sighed. “I’m not gonna be givin’ you a hard time about this. Red filled me in on those things that were attacking you and Tifa during this whole time. So, you’re off the hook...for now.”

“Lucky me...where are the kids?” Cloud choked a little at the last word, and Barret’s hardened gaze softened ever so slightly. 

“They’re with Elmyra. She said she was more than willing to host them in Kalm,” Barret said awkwardly. “They don’t know much, but Marlene I tell you knows more than you think. She was pretty quiet throughout the whole trip. Denzel didn’t want to pry, but you can tell the kid’s more perceptive.”

Cloud took his place amongst the group and sighed. He peered into the heart of the Cosmo Candle, wondering why this had to happen. He ruffled his blonde spikes and was focusing on the intense heat and glow before his gaze was cut off by the sight of red liquid in a glass. 

He turned his head and saw that Cid had brought him an extra drink. “Figured you might need something in your system. Drink up.”

The blonde accepted the drink and peered at the garnet color, before being painfully reminded of a memory he had several years ago with this very same cocktail. 

* * *

_ After spending some time alone in Tifa’s apartment, and Cloud had helped choose her outfit for their planned outing later in the night, the two headed back down to Seventh Heaven, where Barret and Marlene were waiting for the two of them in the bar.  _

_ “We’re back,” Tifa said cheerfully. Barret frowned slightly at this while Cloud kept his gaze cool and collected.  _

_ Marlene who was none the wiser looked curiously at Cloud and then back at Tifa. “Did you...have fun?” _

_ “Lots of fun,” Tifa chuckled.  _

_ “Hey, need y'all downstairs,” Barret said urgently, causing Tifa’s face to break its playfulness and was replaced with a look of anxiety.  _

_ “R-right now? Then the plan is…” _

_ “Marlene? Wanna go wait for Jessie outside?” Barret asked lovingly to Marlene, who replied with a happy “OK!” _

_ “Hey before you do, about my money--,” Cloud asked just as Barret turned away.  _

_ “You’ll get your money, so sit down and shut up until we’re finished.” The man with the gun for an arm then turned to Tifa before pulling the lever on the pinball machine. “Double time Tifa.” _

_ Cloud was fuming from annoyance and frustration at the lack of payment. Sensing this, Tifa looked to Cloud and shook her head apologetically. “I’m really sorry. It shouldn’t be much longer...in the meantime…” _

_ She brightly patted his shoulder before motioning for Cloud to take a seat at the counter. “Grab a seat.” _

_ Just as Cloud slowly made his way to the bar stool, Tifa had jogged around the counter before taking on a different persona of a sexy bartender. Whether it was for play, or not, Cloud felt himself blush.  _

_ “What’ll it be?” Tifa asked coyly, leaning over the bar top. She seemed keen to get him something to drink, and Cloud was willing to play along.  _

_ “I don’t know, something hard and bitter,” he said casually, setting an elbow onto the bar top. Tifa nodded and smiled before heading off to start mixing a drink. She poured a yellow liquid into a cocktail shaker, placed the cap on it before she tossed the shaker into the air, and spun around. Catching the shaker with a flourish, Tifa continuously shook the shaker while not breaking her eye contact from Cloud.  _

_ Cloud was impressed. Tifa seemed to sense this before pouring the cocktail into a cocktail glass and sliding it down to him, where Cloud caught it with his hand and took a taste. It was bitter and hard, just as he had requested. The drink had a pleasant burning sensation that warmed his insides at the taste.  _

_ “Well? Most people would say something sweet right about now,” Tifa said, her gaze looking rather sultry as Cloud continued drinking. The merc smirked.  _

_ “I’m sure they would,” he bantered with his cocky smile.  _

_ “Ah, but you’re a more discerning customer...aren’t you?” Tifa said with a wink. “In which case…” _

_ Tifa picked up the cocktail shaker again, and shook vigorously before pouring red liquid into the glass. Cloud was caught off guard by the magical appearance of the drink, but was more mesmerized by the way Tifa was walking toward him with the drink.  _

_ “Our house special, the Cosmo Canyon,” Tifa said while placing the drink in front of him. Cloud picked up the drink, holding it out in front of him so that the red liquid sparkled in the light.  _

_ “Beautiful,” he said softly. Tifa blushed at this, noticing that he was holding the drink out and his gaze wasn’t focused on the beverage that she concocted.  _

_ “I’ve got to go,” she said. She quickly hustled over to the pinball machines before pulling the lever. Tifa looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Enjoy.” _

* * *

Without much prompting, Cloud downed the drink in a gulp. The drink radiated heat throughout his being, and all he could think about was how much Tifa had watched out for him during the early days of his starting up the mercenary business. She’d connect him with contacts, and his reputation as a monster slayer grew throughout the slums. 

“ _ Damn, _ ” Cloud thought to himself. Feeling rage, he hurled the glass into the Cosmo Canyon, where the glass shattered and tinkled as shards sprayed out in quick spurts. Everyone looked at him, but didn’t address it. Instead, their faces were mixed with fear, confusion and sadness. 

“I’m not here for a pity party,” Cloud said. “I fucked up. I should’ve been able to protect Tifa, and now, she’s...she’s…”

Cloud growled angrily as he stood up and kicked the hot ashes near the fire, sending up a shower of embers up into the air as he expressed his frustrations. “Dammit.”

“Cloud, sit down,” Vincent said in his quiet voice. “Getting angry about it now won’t get Tifa back any sooner. We need to think, and come up with a plan to go get her back.”

“Vincent’s right, ya know,” Yuffie said. “Who knows where she’s at? I bet you, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

“That girl’s tougher than my hide when Shera gets done with me,” Cid said, playing with a cigarette underneath his tongue. “I’m thinking she’s probably causing hell wherever she’s being held. Yuffie’s right. She’s a fighter, and hell, I’m afraid to even cross her even on a good day sometimes.”

Barret nodded before turning to Cloud. “She’s OK, Spikey. Don’t you worry about nothin’. After everything she survived over the years, losing out to a bunch of spectres ain’t her style. She’d be the one trying to find a way out.”

Cloud looked at everyone before turning away to look up at the sky. He’d be damned if Tifa died to a bunch of spectral ghosts. No, she had to be alive. 

“Where would she be though?” Cloud asked Red who appeared to be pondering. “If she’s alive, then where could they have taken her?”

“Before you got here, I was doing some research from what Grandfather left behind in his study,” Red said, swishing his tail. “There’s not much on these creatures, as they only appear during a time when they sense a life of the Planet is ready to end it by unnatural causes, disrupting the sacredness of life that the Planet created.”

Cloud frowned at this, and Red sighed. “But this is a rare case where Tifa didn’t end her life, the spectres came for her anyway. There’s something off about this spiritual phenomena. These spectres don’t just pursue relentlessly or keep going after prey that’s on the mend. No...something’s upsetting the balance in the spiritual realm. Something that’s causing these spectres to go after Tifa specifically.”

“Is she…” Cloud asked, afraid of what Red might say. He then turned to look at the rest of the group that had concerned looks etched onto their faces. “Is there a chance she could be alive? Can we get her back?”

“I don’t know, Cloud,” Red said. “All I know from what Grandfather wrote, was that there is a period of time where the Lifestream opens a pathway to the other realm of spiritual energy where those who are taken can be absorbed. I’m not sure where Tifa could be...but I’d imagine that time is running short. The blood moon and the heat lightning storms have been waning, and we’re losing our window.”

“Hold up!” Barret said, confused. “These storms are all part of this shit too?”

“Yes,” Red said. “These are the openings of which the spectres are able to leave their other realm and be able to pursue its prey in the physical world. It only happens every so often upon a blood moon. They salvage whatever prey they find susceptible to their magic. Tifa, unfortunately, had a lot of things burdening her heart and they were attracted to her pain.”

They all winced at this, and Cloud especially felt himself growing colder at this assessment. “Red, you said that something’s throwing the balance off with their world...what do you think might be causing it?”

Red looked at Cloud, as if he didn’t want to reveal the next part. But he did so anyway. “What or who do you think has made it his clear lifelong mission to take away any bit of happiness you have, Cloud? He said ‘I’ll never be a memory.’”

Cloud froze. “Sephiroth?”

“I thought we were done with that mother---” Cid spat out. “I thought we were done with him. Now you’re tellin’ me that he’s gone and survived every little encounter we had on his sorry ass? He’s like a damn cockroach that just won’t ever get stomped out.”

“Sephiroth’s will is too strong,” Red said. “For all we know, unless Cloud somehow forgets Sephiroth, we’ll never be free of him. Forever, he’ll continue to haunt us until we all forget about who he is. Forget what pain he’s caused.”

“WAIT A SECOND!” Yuffie shouted. Everyone looked at the ninja who seemed baffled by everything that was being shared about the creatures, Sephiroth and the will of the Planet. “So you mean to tell me that Cloud has to die for us to be done with that guy? Where’s the justice in that?!”

Everyone kept their voices down and low, as the villagers were starting to look at the group with curious looks. Cloud shook his head and frowned at this growing paradox. 

“It appears so,” Red said slowly. “It appears that Tifa was taken away as bait for Cloud to come meet Sephiroth so that he could continue searching for ways to return. Tifa, he knows, is the one key that has been keeping him from succeeding.”

Despite the dumbfounded looks everyone was giving him, Red continued. “Tifa is the one person Cloud has from his past that Sephiroth has yet to destroy. She survived the massacre, and she survived the last battle up in the Northern Crater. When Cloud was intoxicated on mako, Tifa was the one who unlocked his true self.”

Red then looked at Cloud. “The way I see it, Sephiroth wants to destroy you. That means destroying the one person you care for the most. That’s Tifa. So, he’s trying a different approach. Controlling those creatures that once was able to discern the dying from the living. The ones who are still fighting for their light. When Tifa was able to fight through it, Sephiroth...got a little impatient.”

There was silence before Vincent said darkly, “Do we know where the spirits have taken Tifa? Is it reachable through...physical means?”

“That’s the part I’m having a hard time deciphering,” Red said. “Grandpa’s writing stops just short of the actual location. He merely mentions the land where the dead cross over. That they go on a journey through the mountains and reach the other side. That’s where the physical can meet the departed.”

Everyone seemed puzzled by this, until Cloud was hit with a memory. His mako-infused eyes shook as he looked frightened. 

“When we were kids, we were told this legend by the townspeople that the spirits of those who died would pass through Mt. Nibel in order to cross over. Tifa had thought her mother went through the mountains and went after her,” Cloud muttered. “I followed her, and we both fell off the mountain. She fell into a coma for seven days.”

The ex-merc looked at his friends before turning his head toward the direction of Mt. Nibel off in the distance. “I remember saving Tifa in the Northern Crater, telling her that we haven’t seen the other side of that mountain. I just never realized that there could be something to this old wive’s tale.”

Cait Sith hopped up into the air. “Well why are we standing here? We gotta go to Mt. Nibel and find the division between the living and the dead!” The robotic cat then flattened his ears against his head. “But Cloud, how do you know if you find her? What if...what if…”

Barret smacked the robot to the ground. “We ain’t talkin about what ifs! We’re gonna go after Tifa, we have to keep hoping that she’s OK and waiting for us. She’s waiting for Cloud. Spikey, we’re gonna go get her back!”

Cloud nodded. “Then it’s settled, we’re heading back to Mt. Nibel. We’re gonna cross through those mountains and find where the spirits cross. That’s where we’ll find Tifa. That’s where...we’ll be together again.”

Cait Sith rubbed his ears before glaring at Barret. He then held out a thumbs up to Cloud. Cid, Yuffie and Vincent nodded and started preparing themselves by equipping their weapons. Barret then turned to Cloud. “You gonna get ready too?”

“I need a moment.”

* * *

Cloud went to a sacred shrine at Cosmo Canyon and laid down an offering of fresh fruit. He wasn’t the spiritual type, nor was he a firm believer in a Goddess or whatever protected the Planet. But he was just hoping that maybe the departed would be able to give him some clarity. 

He felt awkward at first, never having really prayed to anything before. But, instead, he tried viewing it as if he’s connecting to spirits that he missed. To people who he loved dearly and cared for. Those who are watching over him every day as he navigated the throes of life. 

More than anything, he hoped that while they may have departed, that he may still feel a connection to two people he cared so dearly about. 

“Aerith, Zack...if you’re there…” Cloud said bowing. “I-I need help. I need answers. I need to know what to do to save Tifa. Do you know where she is? Is she OK?”

Silence. But Cloud kept meditating. He closed his mako-blue eyes and concentrated on his inner self. He breathed slowly and tried to be more centered. Within the darkness, he felt something call out to him. 

_ “Cloud!” _

“Tifa?”

_ “Cloud, are you there? It’s so dark…” A voice called out to him. “It’s so dark. I don’t know where to go…” _

“Tifa! I’m coming for you,” Cloud thought. “Please hang on. I think we know where to go. I think we know where to go and bring you back. You just need to wait for me. OK?”

_ “There’s a light, Cloud...a light,” the voice said. “Mama and Papa...they’re calling out to me. They want me to join them. They said they’ll take care of me.” _

“No!” Cloud thought fiercely. “Don’t go anywhere. Stay put! OK? Please tell me you’ll stay put. For me. For the kids. I know it’s hard, but you have to remember the people you’re fighting for, alright? I know it’s hard...but keep your sights on me. On us.”

There was a tense silence, Cloud felt his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. “Please, Tifa. Tell me, are you alive? Are you OK?”

_ “Cloud, I’m so sleepy,”  _ the voice said quietly.  _ “I’m so tired. Let me sleep.” _

“NO!” Cloud argued mentally. “You can’t give up. When we come get you, you can take a nap then. But until we see you, you have to stay awake for me. OK? Where are you?”

“ _ It’s beautiful here...we always wondered...what the other side of those mountains went,”  _ the voice said.  _ “I think people are waiting for me on the other side. I’ll wait for you too. I want to show you when you get here.” _

Cloud nodded bitterly. The voice confirmed where Tifa’s spirit was headed, and that they needed to return to the place where they almost lost everything, yet they managed to stay alive. It was also a place, where they were almost permanently separated. 

“OK, Tifa,” Cloud thought. “OK.”

* * *

After breaking his spiritual connection, Cloud headed back down toward the group and found that everyone was ready with their weapons and Yuffie graciously brought along the huge chest of Materia that he hadn’t seen since after the final battle. 

“Wow, Yuffie,” Cloud said. “You brought the Materia?”

“Yeah! Well, most of it,” she answered sheepishly. “I have to say Cloud, it ain’t fun when you’re not hunting them down. I like the game.”

He smiled at this, knowing full well that Yuffie cared for Tifa and had brought the magic orbs as a way to show her support for retrieving the fighter from danger. Being together like this made Cloud miss their adventures, but he felt a dull ache in his heart for knowing that they’re missing two people. 

Tifa...and Aerith. 

“Well, dilly dally shilly shally, right?” Cloud said to everyone. “We all know what we need to do. This seems like a simple mission, but I don’t know what we’re up against. It could very well be Sephiroth, or it might not be. But we need to be on our guard. We’re ALL coming home. You hear? No one is dying on my watch. Not this time.”

Everyone nodded, looking down at their arms where a pink ribbon was tied as a way of memorializing Aerith no matter what they did. Cloud looked down at his own, and nodded. This was different. He no longer felt guilt. He knew that he had forgiven himself for losing Aerith and Zack. He was helpless. 

Not anymore. He was sane. He had control of his emotions and his own mind. Sephiroth will no longer control him. Jenova was also no longer the great and terrible calamity of the skies that they all feared. Cloud refused to have the alien lifeform wreak havoc on them once again, and he’d be damned if Tifa paid for it with her life. 

Not this time. He would not lose anyone again. Especially the person he considered the most important to his being. His existence. His sanity. Tifa was meant to be with him, alive. The leader looked towards the far-off peaks of Mt. Nibel that scraped the skies with its needle-like formations and dark storm clouds that gathered above it. 

Ever since childhood, Mt. Nibel was a place where the children were forbidden and told not to cross. Even more than the core of the Planet, Cloud feared the mountains as it almost took his and Tifa’s life as children. It was the place where he and Tifa almost died. Now, Cloud is going back to the place where he expects to save her. 

He just hopes that he’s not too late.

  
  



	10. A Reunion of Stars and Flowers

_“Tifa! My dear, dear girl!_ _  
  
_

_“That’s my girl, she always knows how to make people smile.”_ _  
  
_

_“Beautiful.”_   
  


_“Tifa! My love! My light!”_

_“Tifa! Run away!”_

_“Hey Tifa, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say to you. But, now that we’re together like this, I don’t know what to say. I guess nothing’s changed. Kinda wants to make you laugh…”_

_“Because I have you this time.What I mean is...kinda different.”_

“Ugh…”

Tifa opened her eyes slowly, taking in the dimly lit area around her. She felt sore, having just remembered that she was mobbed by outer-worldly spirits that essentially dragged her into their realm. The woman stood up and was scared by what she was witnessing. 

There were souls, people she didn’t recognize, who were walking aimlessly and pointlessly through the white smog. Their spirits had failed to be absorbed into the Lifestream, but it appears the Planet hadn’t made a decision on where these people would go. 

Tifa felt her heart sink as she began to wander listlessly in the void. She felt an overwhelming feeling of despair and sadness as she continued to search for a location. She had wondered if she had died, but she touched herself and found that she was still physical and that she still remembered who she was. 

“Where am I?” Tifa asked herself. “The Lifestream?” She looked around her for any signs for a physical marker, but failed to find any. 

“Am I dead?” She wondered aloud. “Am I...part of the Lifestream??”

As if this was answering her question, small spheres of light surrounded Tifa like fireflies. She watched them as they floated around her and then gathered in front of her. 

Then, re-materializing in the empty space was a person. A glowing white light that felt warm. Tifa’s eyes widened in shock as the light slowly dimmed, revealing a corporeal form. Solidified, after so many years of not seeing her, was Aerith Gainsborough. 

She looked just as lovely as she did when she died. Aerith wore her pink dress with red leather jacket and brown boots. Her flower choker adorned her neck, and her long brown hair was plaited into a ponytail that was secured by her signature hair ribbon. 

Aerith’s eyes opened and found Tifa’s, and smiled. “Hey, Tifa. How’s it going?”

Tifa felt her heart simultaneously break and burst with sadness and joy. Her eyes watered as she smiled. “Aerith…”

The two women embraced, and cried into each other’s arms. For so long they had been apart, death separating them both, and here, they were together again. 

“Aerith!” Tifa said, her eyes closed to keep tears from falling. “I missed you so much…”

“You know, if you keep squeezing her like this she’ll get bruises,” a male voice replied. Tifa, stunned, turned around and found the face of Zack Fair grinning. “Keep that up, and I might get a little jealous.”

“Zack!” Tifa hugged him, feeling the ripples of his muscled arms. The SOLDIER 1st Class was just as young and handsome as he did when Tifa last saw him in Nibelheim. “You’re here too?” Her heart was breaking at the loss of two young people who had their lives ahead of them. Sensing this, Aerith and Zack smiled sadly at her.

“We’re alright, Tifa,” Aerith said, nodding. “We’ve been doing OK.”

“H-how come you haven’t been absorbed into the Lifestream?” Tifa’s eyes widened, bewildered. “I thought…”

“It’s a little complicated,” Zack said, rubbing the back of his head. “But, we figured we’d keep watching over Cloud and the others until we’re all ready to go to the Promised Land together.”

Hearing Cloud’s name caused Tifa to look toward the ground in shame. Aerith and Zack gave each other awkward looks as Aerith gently placed her hands on Tifa’s shoulders. 

“Are you alright?” Aerith asked softly. Her voice was soothing, and Tifa started crying heavily as the dead flower girl continued to comfort her friend. “It’s OK, Tifa. You’re going to be alright.”

“I feel so broken…and tired,” Tifa said. “Some days, I don’t know what the right answer is. Some days, I just want this to be over and for us to be together again. All of us.” Tifa looked to the two of them. “But...after everything I did...I don’t even think the Planet will allow me to be absorbed into the Lifestream.”

Aerith frowned at this, but not in an unkind way. She wiped Tifa’s eyes as she held both of her hands. “Tifa, you’re trying to make up for your sins. You’re doing everything in your being to be forgiven...but my question is...who do you want to be forgiven by?”

“That’s the thing...everyone who I allowed to get hurt because of my own revenge,” Tifa said, clenching her fists. “I was the one who went along with the bombings. Families got torn apart because of my own selfish desires to get justice...but it was revenge.”

She looked at her two parted friends who gave her a look of understanding. “I thought I knew what doing this meant, but the collateral damage...I have no excuse for. I’m...sorry. For you, Zack, I’m sorry that I said I hated you... I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s fine, Tifa,” Zack waved her off. “I knew what you meant. I knew where your heart and mind were. No need to apologize for something that I didn’t see as a slight against me.”

Tifa faced Aerith’s angelic face and felt herself wobble. “I’m sorry, Aerith.”

“Hm? What for?”

“If I didn’t fight back harder, and didn’t let you join us on that mission against Corneo, you’d still be at home,” Tifa said. “I could’ve pushed back, and let you get out while you had a chance. You didn’t need to get involved, and I let that happen to you.”

Aerith giggled, causing Tifa to step back confused. “Tifa, you know me. Cloud even said ‘don’t bother talking her out of it.’ It’s fine. I made my choice to go. If Cloud hadn’t fallen through the church ceiling, I probably wouldn’t have met any of you.”

The flower girl then smiled sadly. “To be honest...making the best friends I had in my entire life was worth the danger and the pain. Like I said to Cloud, everyone dies in the end. You just have to make every moment count and cherish the memories you make along the way.”

Aerith then gently held Tifa’s hand. “I’ll never blame you and Cloud for what happened to me. If it were up to me, I’d do it all over again, just so as long we can laugh about it all when it’s all over. So, no, I’m not accepting your apology, because I don’t need one. You need to apologize to yourself.”

“Myself?”

“For being too critical and hard on yourself for things that are bigger than you,” Aerith said. “You’re trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, when it’s not something that you should be tasked with all by yourself. Honestly, I’d be crushed under all that weight.”

“Dilly dally shilly shally,” Tifa muttered under her breath. She then laughed. “I guess there was a point to that saying after all. But...I just wish things turned out differently than they did. I wish you two were back with us, to see the new beginnings...all of it. It’s just not fair.”

Zack ruffled his black spikes and looked at Aerith and then at Tifa. “You ladies sure do like to talk.”

Tifa gasped in mock outrage, but Aerith smacked Zack on the shoulder. “Stop it, we’re having a moment!”

“Aw, I know,” the soldier said with a grin. “But, Tifa? You know, when I met Cloud in our Shinra days, he was a standout kid. He wanted so hard to try and make it into SOLDIER. Then, I found out from Aerith that the main reason he wanted to get into SOLDIER, was to impress you.”

The guy grinned as Tifa blushed. “I gotta tell ya, that should say something about the guy who wants to be a hero in your eyes. We don’t go out of the way for just anyone. I can tell...he really…”

Aerith smiled at Zack and then turned back to Tifa. “What Zack is trying to say is that Cloud needs you. So, we’re just gonna say you can’t stay here...but there’s a problem,” the girl frowned. “Something’s preventing us from sending you home. Someone...I should say.”

Tifa’s eyes widened. “Who?”

“I’ll give you three guesses.”

The fighter groaned and punched through the thin air. “Sephiroth? But...I thought he was done!”

“Sephiroth’s will is too strong to be assimilated into the Lifestream,” Aerith said in a cold tone, almost uncharacteristic to her. “To be honest, it’s unlikely he’ll ever be forged into the Planet.”

“So, why is he keeping me here?”

“He wants Cloud to be lured here,” Zack said simply. “We hear his voice every so often, Sephiroth’s. It’s...sad to think he was the man I used to know.”

Tifa felt herself deflate. It would seem that Sephiroth was more insidious than Geostigma, and the living memory that he continues to plague the world with didn’t stop with the disease. His presence continued to be felt, if anything, haunting their memories. 

“Will I ever be free?” Tifa asked. “Even if Sephiroth was gone...will I ever be allowed to move on with my life?”

“It’s hard to think you’ll never be happy again,” Aerith said. “But, you need to keep moving forward. The pain you felt and the trauma that you’ve experienced is no less painful now than it was when it actually happened. No one can tell you how to feel by now. But, what I am asking...is for you to keep embracing your happiness. You deserve to be happy, no matter how hard you might be telling yourself you don’t.”

“It’s hard to see that, when the weight is drowning you,” Zack said, “You know, Cloud when we last talked to him he was struggling with what you were dealing with Tifa. He put all that weight on himself, and he just couldn’t see which way was up or down. He came close to coming with us, but we felt...he deserved to keep living life and that’s how he can make up for the lives that were lost.”

Tifa nodded, though she was apprehensive. She was stuck in limbo essentially, but whether she chose to go with Aerith and Zack, or return home back to her family meant waiting to see if Cloud can destroy Sephiroth. But...if she’s here…

“Hey...is he...here?” Tifa asked calmly. “Where is Sephiroth?”

* * *

It took several minutes of tracking, but Aerith and Zack walked with Tifa to the other end of the white void where, at least to Tifa’s perspective, it didn't look any different from where she had awakened. However, there seemed to be a dark presence that was more overbearing and ominous. 

“Sephiroth!” Tifa called out. “Sephiroth. Answer me!”

“My, my...such harsh tones coming from such a little girl.”

Tifa turned and found herself facing the man who had caused her and her community so much pain. The murderer who had slain her father and Cloud’s mother in cold blood and burned down the village in his own psychotic rampage. This man...was a monster. 

The silver-haired soldier that was once hailed as a hero stood near Tifa with his long menacing blade that sent shivers down her spine. She was determined not to allow him to see how he still made her scared. She instead focused on his steely mako-infused eyes. They were devoid of human compassion and decency. They were hollow and empty. 

“So we meet again...Tifa, was it?” The man said coolly. “How is your dear boyfriend doing these days? Has he fallen down enough times to realize that he is no longer able to escape me?”

“You know my name, Sephiroth,” Tifa spat with venom. “You don’t have to pretend.”

The soldier looked bemused as he held out his sword closely to Tifa’s face, the shiny metal reflected her gaze. Aerith and Zack stood solidly behind Tifa as Sephiroth came closer. 

“You...you were the one that tried to strike me down at the Nibelheim Reactor,” he said in a calm tone. “Clearly, you forgot where your place was. I just sought to remind you...did I leave a lasting impression? With the way you fell down those stairs, I would like to think that I had given you something to remember me by.”

Tifa gritted her teeth. She had received a long gash-like scar that ran down her chest and off to the hip. Though no one has seen this scar before...aside from one person. 

“Tell me Tifa, how is your father?” Sephiroth almost taunted. “He was so good about allowing you to guide us through the mountains...though he seemed a little confused as to who he thought he was dealing with. So, I set to remind him as he tried to pay me a visit without my knowledge.”

“Tifa...he’s just trying to mess with you,” Zack said curtly. “Don’t let him get in your head.”

“How are you doing Zack?” Sephiroth said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen my comrade…” Then the man turned his focus over to Aerith who had been watching him with a mixed look of disgust. “And you...the one who got in the way of Meteor fulfilling my destiny...my future would’ve been fulfilled with Mother taking her rightful place as ruler of this forsaken planet.”

“As I’ve said before, Sephiroth, the future doesn’t belong only to you,” Aerith said coldly. “You have been foiled time and time again. That is your destiny. To fail and to rot away in the abyss where you’ll be trapped forever with no way of joining the Lifestream.”

Suddenly the man shifted his blade at Aerith, by which Zack had stood in front of Aerith to guard her. “I forgot what a mouth you had on you,” Sephiroth responded in an almost bored fashion. “I was easily able to silence that so many years ago. Unless...you have forgotten what it’s like to be put to sleep by steel.”

The man in black then smirked casually. “So, Tifa...you never answered my question...how is Cloud? And how are you doing with your...sadness?”

“None of your business,” Tifa said angrily. “I’m here because you’re keeping me here. Once Cloud and the rest of Avalanche come, you’ll be put down indefinitely.”

“My dear girl...you seem to have forgotten why I brought you here,” he said. “You’re here because your life has no meaning outside of Cloud. Why waste your time catering to his every whim and live out such a pathetic existence where he clearly doesn’t care for you?”

“Yes he does care, Sephiroth,” Tifa said. “I’m sorry you never had anyone to care for you, and I pity you.”

“What did you say, insolent child?” Sephiroth hissed, squaring off with her. Zack was prepared to step in between but Tifa stood her ground. “You have some nerve trying to impose your self-righteousness on me.”

“I pity you, Sephiroth,” Tifa said. “You could’ve had a normal life. One that wasn’t chosen for you by Professor Hojo. I don’t blame you for the pain that inflicted onto you beyond the reaches of your control.” She then glared at him. “You had no love since you were born, only to serve Shinra and yet, you still made a choice to destroy innocent lives. You still let Jenova control you like a _puppet._ ”

Sephiroth’s blue eyes turned impossibly colder as he picked up his blade. Zack was about to intervene, when Aerith shook her head in silence. Tifa frowned. “If you had been loved from the beginning, you maybe would’ve turned out differently. You would have had friends. People who would’ve cared for you. Instead, you let your anger take control.”

She then boldly stepped in front of Sephiroth, closing in on the distance. “You had your chance to redeem yourself. To claim a future that wasn’t tainted by Shinra. Instead, you chose hatred and loneliness. You chose to become a monster instead of defying what people had wanted you to be. You weren’t a monster by birth. You MADE your choice to be the very monster you despised being.”

Tifa then looked at Zack and Aerith. “I pity you, Sephiroth. You could’ve made a decision that still stuck it to Shinra, but without the casualties. You instead became what you loathed. I pit---”

Suddenly, Sephiroth stabbed Tifa through the torso with his blade. Aerith and Zack’s eyes widened in fear as Tifa gasped from the pain. “You’re lucky that you’re only a spirit,” he said dangerously. “If you had been alive, you would be as good as gone. If I thought you were going to survive all those years ago, I would have tried harder and took you more seriously as a threat.”

He then whispered in her ear. “Heed my words, Tifa...by having you here...Cloud is good as mine. And I’ll only have you to thank for being his undoing.”

Sephiroth quickly withdrew the sword, leaving Tifa crumpled up on the ground. Aerith ran over to her and held Tifa who was struggling to remain steady in her gaze. Sephiroth turned away and walked forward. Zack furiously shouted after his former friend, who then disappeared into a shower of light. 

Soon, he was gone.


	11. The Merciless Mt. Nibel

It took an hour or so for the group to make it to Nibelheim and though the villagers attempted to ask them questions, the look of Barret’s gun arm and Vincent’s ominous foreboding ambiance prompted them to return to their business, though not without some side-eye glances as they walked through the square and through the area leading to Mt. Nibel. 

“Damn, these people starin’ at you like you’re gonna do somethin’ wrong,” Barret said curtly, looking irritated as even one of the villagers peered through the flower bushes at one house. “Damn Shinra and their actors actin’ like they haven’t spotted a guy with a gun on his arm before.”

Avalanche looked at Barret quizzically, who then realized that having a gun on his arm was a bit out of the norm. “Oh, right,” he muttered. The gang kept pressing onward. Cloud kept moving ahead, his memories reminding him of the path that he took those years ago. 

“I know we’ve been through here before,” Barret huffed. “But, damn, why did Sephiroth want to bring you out here? Why not the crater?”

“It’s I think to trigger an emotional response on Cloud’s part,” Red said stoically. “It’s a place that holds a lot of significance for Tifa and Cloud. Also, it’s the place where Sephiroth was originally defeated at the hands of an infantryman, not a SOLDIER.”

Cloud looked down at Red, whose glowing amber eyes were watching him. “It’s still quite amusing to think about...how the great war hero was defeated by a regular grunt. That’s something that the newspapers would’ve been clamouring about.”

“We didn’t hear nothin,’” Barret said. “Shoot, people didn’t know what happened to Corel.”

“Shinra bought out all the newspapers...there weren’t many slum papers left unless they were Shinra run,” Cloud said quietly. “If anyone went against what they were saying...well...there’s reasons why there aren’t many left.”

“Oh,” Barret said. “Right…”

“Shinra this, Shinra that,” Yuffie grumbled. “They ruined everything. They messed with Wutai and looked at what happened. It’s still on the rebound from becoming such a tourist trap. We were a proud nation...we’re an embarrassment.”

“We all had things that were touched and ruined by Shinra,” Vincent said. “Cid lost his space dreams, Aerith was exploited for her ancestry. Barret’s coal mining town was burned to the ground. My biggest sin of losing Lucrecia and letting Hojo experiment on the baby, Sephiroth would never have happened…”

Cait Sith remained quiet, which Cloud took notice. “Reeve?”

“I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but I was a Shinra employee,” he said with his ears lowering. “I know Shinra did some bad things, not condoning it...but many of them were innocent. They had mouths to feed. Sometimes...people aren’t in a place to stand up against them without losing everything.”

“I know,” Cloud replied. “But...what’s everything to you? Was it worth it?” Cait Sith stayed silent. 

The rest of the group kept trudging forward, trying to keep their thoughts focused on rescuing Tifa and finding a resolution to the root of their ills. 

* * *

The cold air of Mt. Nibel jogged memories for Cloud, who remembered falling down the ravine that acted as a catalyst for the journey that he embarked on as a young child who wanted to prove to everyone in town that he was not a weakling. He was capable of being a hero to someone. 

Cloud slowly walked near the bridge that rattled mercilessly, sending shivers up his spine of the exact moment he tried to grab hold of Tifa who had lost her footing and fell. He had managed to escape severe injury, but Tifa was in a coma for seven days. Many believed she wouldn’t make it. 

Those were the days he struggled to forgive himself for not being stronger. That he had failed in rescuing her when she needed a hero to save the day. He felt himself growing more distant by the second, watching the swaying of the bridge. 

“Cloud?” Yuffie asked, confused about his hesitation. “You OK?”

He looked at the bridge and then turned back to the team. “This is the place where Tifa and I fell as children, and again when we were on a guided tour toward Mt. Nibel reactor. It’s not safe, but it’s one of the only ways to get to where we needed to go.”

“Aw, but Cloud! That happened years ago!” Cid said, slapping Cloud on the back. “You’ll be fine this time ‘round.”

Vincent silently loomed nearby in his strange presence that both felt comforting, yet ominous. He observed the bridge as well, undoubtedly thinking about the years being locked in the basement of Shinra’s mansion. 

Red slowly prowled forward. “It’s not the matter of when it happened, it’s the matter of how it still causes Cloud and Tifa a lot of pain. Whether it was 20 years ago, or just yesterday.”

“We can’t waste time here,” Cloud said, shaking his head, interrupting a would-be squabble. “Tifa needs me...us. So we need to keep moving. If you guys want to turn back now, you can. No one’s gonna give you any guff.”

“Stop pushin’ people away, Cloud,” Barret said. “We go in together, we go down together and hell, if Sephiroth pulls the same shit as last time, we’ll take him down just like we did however so many times? We got this.”

He nodded and the party slowly navigated themselves across the bridge. Many of them held their breath as they took each step, pausing only for the briefest moment when the wind would sway the footpath. Cloud continued moving forward, trying not to look down. 

Despite his cool and quiet demeanor, Cloud had a slight fear of falling through the boards again. He managed to only get scarred knees, but this time around, he’s not so sure if fate would be all that kind to spare him from severe injury...or even death. 

“Stay close,” Cloud said. He kept moving ahead slower, inch by inch. Each step meant getting closer to confronting Sephiroth once more, but it also meant getting closer to finding out whether Tifa was safe...or...He shook his head again. He refused to believe that Tifa was dead. He had to keep his heart in check, and not to let his emotions control him, and becoming susceptible to more of Sephiroth’s cunning and manipulative tactics. 

“So, Cloud?” Yuffie asked casually while following him step by step. “I know it’s none of my business, but I’m gonna ask anyway. Are you and Tifa---?”

“What do you mean?” 

“Are you, you know?” Yuffie motioned suggestively. Cloud felt his face turn a bright red as he kept his gaze forward. 

“It’s complicated,” he answered. He felt his ears heating up, knowing that he probably looked suspect to those who were watching him from behind. 

“My god, you two have been ‘complicated’ for the last how many goddamn years since we first met up with y'all?” Cid griped. “Make up your damn minds! I gotta give Tifa her props for sticking around you for how many years and not even putting a damn ring on it!”

Cloud groaned, embarrassed at the situation. This wasn’t the time to be discussing his romantic life, let alone the relationship he has with Tifa. “I said what I said...it’s complicated,” he responded coldly. “We don’t need labels, and we don’t need people telling us what we are. We decide that on our own time.”

“Well take your damn time then,” Barret hollered, the burly man avoiding the look down the ravine. “We’re just sayin’ Tifa deserves more than just being dragged along and there’s nothing for her here. She deserves to meet someone, ya know? Someone who does give a damn about calling her by what their relationship is. No more skirtin’ around the issue.”

The ex-SOLDIER kept himself quiet as he moved forward. They were halfway across the bridge, and here they go griping about whether he was seeing Tifa or not. 

“You know, sometimes I wonder if you just like having women fawning over you like some Casanova or somethin’,” Cid said rolling his eyes. “I mean, when Aerith was around, the three of y’all were just having your own little soap opera. I couldn’t keep up.”

Cloud slowly turned his head toward Cid, a frown emerging on his face. “If we wanna talk about semantics and relationships, then let’s talk about Shera...your wife? The one you kicked around for the longest time before you decided that she was alright? Ya know...AFTER she basically proved that you were being dumb and saved your life?”

Cid appeared abashed, but then retreated slightly. “No arguments there, but y'all are raising a family together, doesn’t that mean anything in the...bachelor sense?”

“No, because it’s not anyone’s damn business,” Cloud said, rolling his eyes. “Tifa and I will be whatever we want to be. We don’t need anyone to---.”

“SHIT!” Barret shouted, pulling his gun arm out and started shooting off to his side. Off in the distance, a Dragon was heading their way, roaring as it reared its scaly head. Spotting the group on the bridge, the beast roared and started descending on them with flames rolling from his nostrils. 

“Why do they pick the worst times to come out and play?!” Cid shouted. He turned to everyone. “We gotta keep moving! Otherwise that ugly ass thing is gonna take out the bridge and all of us on it!”

Barret kept shooting rounds, giving cover as everyone continued walking across the bridge. “I’m gonna need some help here!”

“On it!” Yuffie started jumping around casting spells from her Conformer. Vincent, using his Death Penalty, starting shooting in rapid succession at the Dragon, which barely flinched. This caught Cloud off-guard, as these creatures were relatively easy to take on after a certain point…

“Why isn’t it going down?!” Cait Sith shouted, having hopped onto Red’s back as they ran toward the end of the bridge. “Why is it…”

Suddenly, the bridge supports started breaking. Cloud, Cid, Cait Sith and Red made it to the end of the bridge, while Yuffie and Vincent started heading toward the end of the path with Barret covering the rear. Another Dragon had appeared and started attacking them ruthlessly, sending flamethrowers that Yuffie blocked with an MBarrier, cutting the damage in half. 

Cloud took note of the fraying supports.  _ They didn’t have much time _ ...The bridge started teetering and Barret was the only one left on it...Images of Marlene flashed in his head, prompting Cloud to run back onto the bridge to provide support. 

“Hey! Tifa’s the other way!” Yuffie shouted as Cloud headed back down. “HEY!”

“Barret!” Cloud shouted as he unsheathed his Fusion Sword. “We have to go!”   
  


The man with the gun on his arm looked down at Cloud, who was trying to get Barret to keep moving while parrying a Dragon’s bite. “BARRET!” The two men found each other and agreed silently. They tried to quickly make it back to the other side of the bridge. The faces of their friends kept inching closer and closer. 

Suddenly, the bridge was shaking uncontrollably, one of the railings completely snapped, twisting the bridge on its side. The gang gasped and started shouting at the two to hang on tightly. 

The Dragons roared and started ramming their heads against the supports, continuing to loosen the entire structure. Barret grabbed hold on one of the fraying rope railings as Cloud clung on tightly to the wooden planks of the bridge. It felt surreal that he was experiencing this once again. 

“Hang on!” He ordered Barret who was gripping onto the wooden planks to stead it. 

Each flap from the Dragons’ wings sent a burst of fast wind that threatened to twist the bridge and flip it. Suddenly, the supports anchoring the bridge by its rope railings broke, swinging the structure toward the cliff wall where the rest of Avalanche was standing in horror. 

Barret was hanging onto the planks like ladder rungs above Cloud, who noted the decaying ropes that merely had been patched over the years. The ways things stood, there was just too much weight...

“Cloud!” Barret gritted his teeth. “Hold on, we're gonna get through this.”

“You know, you say that so many damn times,” Cloud tried to joke. “Gonna have to get that in writing. Shit...this thing ain’t gonna hold…”

The bridge was clearly losing its strength. It was a wonder why after so many years, the rickety bridge wasn’t replaced with a metal one or something with much more structure. Cloud laughed to himself about the stupidity of the situation, while at the same time his mako-blue eyes zoned in on the fraying ropes, his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest for beating so quickly. 

Judging from the weight of the bridge and the degree it was starting to separate, there was just too much weight being put onto the bridge. Barret was on the top and closer to getting himself up and over onto the ledge where everyone was waiting….

“We can’t give up now, Tifa’s waiting,” Barret said, staring back down at the blonde soldier who was staring back up at him. “You got that? The kids are waiting for their dad back home. You can’t deny them that.”

One of the Dragons attempted to send forth another fiery blast, but Vincent shot one through the eye, causing it to fall down chasm in freefall. Cid leapt through the air using Dragon Dive, spearing the creature through its tough leathery back. It roared in pain, then he planted a dynamite stick into the hole before jumping back toward the cliff ledge. 

_ BOOM _ . The explosion of the dynamite sent a shower of blood, guts and other indescribables into the air, showering the area with Dragon parts. “EW!” Yuffie screamed out in disgust. She had some of the blood land on her head, sending trickles down her face. “CID! Why didn’t you?---”

“Lassie! We need to help Barret and Cloud!” Cait Sith shouted, pointing down at the men who were still hanging onto the bridge. “Hang on!”

“Right,” Cloud said, observing his surroundings. The fraying railings would immediately snap if they attempted to pull the both of them up...but perhaps if it was lighter. There were a million thoughts running through his mind at this, but Cloud felt he had no choice. There was no time, and Tifa needed him. 

He held his Fusion Sword above his head. 

“Hey, Barret?”

“What?”

“Give Marlene and Denzel a call later...tell them...tell them I’m sorry I’m gonna be late.”

“Cloud?”

With that, Cloud swung his sword, cutting through the ropes that were holding his section of the bridge. He started tumbling through the air as he watched Barret screaming at him. There was no sound. Cloud couldn’t hear anything as he continued to plummet into the white abyss, the cold air rushing through his veins as he continued to free fall, without knowing if he'll make it out this time around. 

The only comfort he had, was seeing Tifa again. 


	12. Haunted by You

It felt like eternity before Tifa’s eyes opened, and saw the blurry faces of Aerith and Zack hovering above her. 

She must’ve been knocked out for hours, but according to Aerith, it had only been for ten minutes. Sephiroth’s blade had pierced her, but she was still coherent and she was still relatively unscathed aside from the soreness she felt. 

“Hey, you alright?” Zack asked. “You OK?”

Groaning, Tifa sat herself upright before taking in where she was again. It was one of disappointment, that she was still here in a white void that seemed to go on endlessly in all directions. 

“What happened?” Tifa mumbled. “How didn’t I die?”

“As Sephiroth pointed out, you’re a spirit,” Aerith said, before quickly changing her tone upon Tifa’s stunned face. “Not spirit as in ‘dead,’ but as an individual soul that has yet to join the Planet. Your physical form is alive...but you’re separated from it.”

Suddenly, Tifa stood up and took several steps forward. She then gasped. 

“Did those things...take my spirit?” Tifa said, her eyes widening. “Is...is that what happened?”

There was a relatively slow response, but it was confirmed through Aerith’s and Zack’s expressions. 

“Yeah,” Aerith nodded. “Your physical body is separated from your spirit. A white light that is your conscious, your soul. The thing that makes you ‘Tifa’ as our body decays and returns to the Planet, is what keeps you tethered to the world and to all the memories that make you...you.”

“What exactly are those things?” Tifa asked. “Red explained some apparently to Cloud, but I didn’t get a chance to listen to their conversation.”

“They’re beings formed by the darkest feelings within human hearts,” Aerith said. “They’re the embodiment of sadness and depression. They’re physical representations of what we are without souls. Without our ‘spirit.’ These creatures may have once been human, but their own spirits were stolen. They hunt for prey that seems depressed and continue to attack until their spirits are ready to be untethered.’”

“Thing is,” Zack interrupted. He walked toward Tifa and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. “When those things attacked you, they attempted try and have you end your life...one of their many ways of ‘hunting.’”

“Cloud was depressed for several years,” Tifa said. “Did they attack him? Why couldn’t I see it?”

“Sephiroth has specifically gained control of these creatures, and the thing is, these creatures only appear after so many years under the guise of the blood moon and heat lightning storms,” Aerith said. “They physically manifest themselves when they’re allowed to roam. When they’re hungry...and whoever is cast within their sights...they won’t stop hunting until the blood moon wanes from the sky.”

Tifa felt herself constrict at the thought of the creatures. The pieces started coming together. “So...those things that were making me go cold and haunting me with those bad memories...that orb of light...that’s my spirit?”

“Yeah,” Aerith replied carefully. “It is. Those things take little pieces of you...replace the good memories with the bad and make you forget about all the things that made your life good. It’s replaced with your mistakes...your failures...your fears...and your feeling of being free.”

  
  


They had been happy once...maybe they had memories that were taken away from them. Maybe...there could be an end to the cycle that they keep perpetuating. They had to be set free from continuing to haunt others. Tifa thought maybe there was a way to free those spirits and have them be put to rest. 

Aerith must’ve sensed this thought, and she shook her head. “No...they can’t be helped,” she said to Tifa’s disappointment. “They have long given up on being saved and chose this path to being unredeemed and untethered. Once your spirit has been cut from the physical body...you have to return within the time that the blood moon is still in the sky...otherwise...you’ll forever be separated. You won’t be able to return. You're as good as dead.”

Zack shivered at this, causing Aerith to roll her eyes in exasperation. “Cloud will find you, but thing is...that’s exactly what Sephiroth wants,” she said. “He has to be untethered from his body in order to get here...and since the blood moon is so close to being gone from the sky...he’ll be forever separated.”

“No!” Tifa said, her eyes horrified. “That means...that means he shouldn’t be coming to get me! He needs to stay put! I can figure out a way---.”

“We know Tifa,” Aerith said sadly. “But Sephiroth is keeping you here, and unfortunately, most of my strength is trying to keep his spirit bound here so that he doesn’t find ways to return faster.”

“If I don’t return to my body...then…” Tifa’s eyes continued to widen. “Will I...become one of them?”

Zack turned his head away, and Aerith kept her gaze downward. Their silence was the loudest answer that Tifa could’ve received. She felt herself growing even more agitated. 

“This is so stupid!” Tifa shouted. Her eyes glittering with angry tears. “I didn’t deserve any of this! Why did I have to be put in this situation?! Now...now I might not be able to go home. I might just turn out to be one of those THINGS!”

“Tifa!” Aerith said worriedly. “You have to maintain yourself...if you don’t, the anger will slowly choke out your spirit. Then...your physical form won’t be able to merge back with it. It’ll be an empty shell and it’ll be way more susceptible to manipulation! Sephiroth could...could…”

Aerith kept her mouth closed. Tifa’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Aerith...what aren’t you telling me?”

The Cetra looked at Tifa into her beautiful ruby eyes with her own emerald ones, and started to dive deeper. “Tifa, your physical body is the bait.”

“Huh? W-what do you mean?”

“Cloud...if he finds your body, you won’t be able to return to it,” Aerith said. “Sephiroth will use it to fight Cloud. But doing so...might mean that Cloud has to damage it beyond repair. It might mean killing Sephiroth, which means killing your vessel. The one thing that keeps you tethered to the Planet before rejoining the Lifestream.”

Zack paced slowly, his actions causing Tifa to radiate fear and sadness. “Zack?”

“He’s always been...my friend,” the ex-SOLDIER said. “But when he found out he was a creation of Hojo, his mind was completely shattered. He was doing alright...if Hojo hadn’t...if someone had attempted to stop him from Shinra’s end...we wouldn’t keep harming innocent people.”

The man sighed. “There’s a lot I wish I can atone. To find forgiveness for being a pawn in their schemes. For perpetuating an endless cycle of destruction. We are condemned to this.” After a few moments, Zack suddenly punches through the air. “DAMMIT! SEPHIROTH!”

Tifa’s eyes never left Zack, as the flower girl slowly made her way over to him. She was a calming presence, one that was a constant source of light and life to those who knew her. Aerith stood next to Zack and patted his shoulder softly. “It’s alright, “ she said in a near whisper. 

She turned to Tifa who had been watching with a stoic face. “Tifa...you have to keep fighting off those feelings. Your spirit is more vulnerable now that you’re separated from your body. We have to keep it as pure as possible...otherwise, you’re going to lose your way back home.”

“But…” Tifa said, feeling more agitated. “I...I can’t hold it in anymore. I’d go crazy if I did. For so many years, I’ve been waiting to go on this journey, to settle my past and finally put to rest my memories that kept me up at night. To finally find a way to forgive those who had hurt me and Cloud. It’s NOT FAIR!”

Tifa started feeling a surge of negative energy within herself. It felt like ripples, slowly expanding further and further out as she continued to try to channel herself. But, it was radiating anger like fire. A burning flame that was unlike passion...but this time...it felt like revenge.

“Tifa…” Aerith reached out to her, but the fighter merely brushed her off. “Tifa!”

“Leave me alone,” she said. The brawler continued moving forward, her eyes continuing to grow darker and darker, her hair flowing behind in an invisible breeze.

* * *

Cloud opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the peaks of Mt. Nibel. His back hurt like no other, but aside from the soreness, he seemed fine. He slowly flexed his hands and checked his legs. Nothing was broken. He was dealing with deep bruises that ran along his forearms and the sticky pools of blood that poured from open cuts. 

“You did it again,” Cloud murmured. “You managed to survive another fall from Mt. Nibel.” He gritted his teeth as Cloud slowly hoisted himself up to stand and take in his surroundings. He checked his pocket and sighed at the look of his broken cell phone. There was no way to let the others know he survived. 

“Can’t stay here,” he told himself. “I have to keep moving.” The ex-SOLDIER slowly moved forward along the banks of the ravine.

* * *

_ Rain was pouring heavily down on Cloud, who found himself covered in mud and small debris from smacking his body against the ground of the ravine. He slowly sat himself upright and took in his situation.  _

_ “Ow!” The 9-year-old shook his head as he looked at his knees. They were scraped pretty good, fresh blood having trickled down the side. He gingerly touched it, hissing at the stinging and dull sensation of having hit it against some rocks on the way down from the bridge.  _

_ After checking that he himself hadn’t broken any bones, Cloud quickly looked around him. Where was Tifa? She had missed her step… _

_ “TIFA!” Cloud shouted into the ravine. His little voice echoed against the walls. “TIFA!” The little boy wondered where she could be. She couldn’t have fallen too far from where he was. The little boy looked all over from where he had fallen, and sure enough, the sight was overwhelming.  _

_ There, huddled into a curled up position, was Tifa. The 8-year-old girl’s eyes were closed, and her temples were covered in dirt, mud and a dark ooze, which Cloud assumed was blood. It had appeared that she knocked her head against the boulders and stone formations that jutted out from the sides.  _

_ The little white dress with a ribbon on the front that Tifa usually wore was ripped and covered in streaks of dirt and dried blood. Her long hair was messed up greatly having fallen through the air. She didn’t stir, leaving the little boy worried about her condition. _

_ “T-Tifa?” He ran over to her and tried to sit her upright against his injured knee. Her head lolled around as Cloud tried to get her to wake up. “Tifa! C’mon, wake up! We have to get back home!” The boy started checking to see if Tifa was even breathing.  _

_ “STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” A male voice rang out. Cloud looked up and saw Brian Lockhart, Tifa’s father, running toward the two of them with another townsperson following closely behind. The townsperson knelt down, picked up Tifa and carried her away bridal style.  _

_ The man turned back to the two of them. “Brian, this doesn’t look good,” he said shaking his head. “She hit her head. At that height...I don’t know if she’ll make it.” _

_ “Take her home!” Brian shouted back. “Get the doctor. Do something!” The townsperson nodded and ran with Tifa while Brian cast his focus back down at Cloud, who was kneeling in front of his next-door neighbor’s father.  _

_ “You...how can you bring Tifa to a place like this?!” Brian shouted angrily. He shook his finger at Cloud who reacted almost like a dog with its tail between its legs. “What if she dies?!”  _

_ “I’m sorry, Mr. Lockhart,” Cloud stammered. He wanted to explain that he had followed Tifa through the mountains to make sure she was alright. All of her friends had abandoned her, yet he kept his eyes on her, praying that she wouldn’t fall down the mountain. “I-I…” _

_ “Sorry?! You’ll be sorry if my little girl doesn’t wake up ever again,” he said gritting his teeth. “I’ve seen the way you look at her when she’s playing. You’re a freak. You little piece of shit. You did this to her. Don’t you ever forget that!” _

_ Suddenly, Cloud felt something hard strike against his cheek. Brian had slapped him, causing the little boy’s eyes to well up with tears, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want Tifa to get in trouble, and he was more concerned if she was going to make it.  _

_ “Trust me, boy,” Brian said with angry tears rolling down his face and gathering into his mustache. “If Tifa doesn’t make it out of this alive...I know where to find you.” _

_ With that, Tifa’s father slowly turned away and started heading his way out of the ravine. He looked at Cloud who was sniffing behind him, his knees buried in the mud. “You’re never allowed to speak to my daughter again. You hear me? Stay away from her.” _

_ As he walked away, the rain started pouring down heavily and all Cloud could do was cry. He wanted nothing more to play with Tifa and the rest of the children, but somehow...he felt so different from all of them. Now...the girl he had admired from afar may never wake up. _

_ And it was all his fault. If he had been stronger...faster...maybe...Tifa wouldn’t be dying. _

_ “I’m sorry, Tifa.” _

* * *

“Dammit,” Cloud said to himself. He shook his head from these thoughts as he continued to walk alongside the small creek that flowed through the middle of the ravine. Each step was more agonizing than the last. 

* * *

_ Little Cloud finally made it home by limping. It was way past dark by the time he returned to the one-room cottage. He knew he had broken curfew, and his mother was probably worried sick. He tried to come up with excuses, but to no avail, he was dirty and he was hurt.  _

_ He caught movement within the window, and the door opened quickly. His mother, Claudia, stepped outside with her eyes widening at the sight of him, probably stunned by the bloodied knees and the dirty clothes.  _

_ “Cloud?!” She said horrified. “What happened to you?” _

_ “I fell…” Cloud started. His mother’s eyes then darkened in realization.  _

_ “Does this have anything to do with Brian Lockhart running into his house screaming?” Claudia asked. “I saw a man carrying Tifa in earlier...said some boy had led her to Mt. Nibel.” _

_ Cloud debated telling his mother the truth, but the way she looked pained at the sight of him was overwhelming. He didn’t know what to say, whether to speak his truth or not. Yet, Claudia seemed to fill in the blanks.  _

_ “You didn’t...did you?” Claudia said, her expression softening. “That’s not my son.” _

_ “No,” he replied quietly. “I didn’t.” _

_ “B-but why didn’t you tell Mr. Lockhart?” Claudia asked as she slowly motioned for Cloud to step inside. “Here, let’s get you changed and fixed up.” _

_ Slowly, through the glow of the wood-burning stove in the kitchen and the gas lamps that Claudia had lit around the one-room cottage, Cloud filled her in on what happened. She mended his ripped pants and had treated his wounds with potion and bandages. Soon after he was cleaned up, Claudia continued to get more information out of her young son who had a great ordeal.  _

_ The smell of beef stew simmering in its cast-iron pot on top of the stove was warm and inviting. Cloud eventually felt warmed up from the chill of what had happened earlier that day. His mother had helped him change into clean clothes, wrapped a small worn-out quilt around him and placed a steaming plate of beef stew in front of him.  _

_ “Here,” Claudia said anxiously. She placed a steaming cup of tea next to his plate. Cloud nodded in thanks as he slowly ate his supper. “You’re OK?” _

_ “Not really,” he said quietly. “Mom...Tifa hates me.” _

_ “Oh no, don’t say that,” Claudia replied. “How can that sweet little girl hate you? You did nothing wrong. If anything, Brian Lockhart should be thanking you for keeping an eye on her.” _

_ Two fat tears dribbled down Cloud’s face as he wiped them. “Sorry, Mom. I let her down.” Suddenly, Claudia wrapped her arms around her son, who started bawling. “I thought I could grab her! I did...I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t strong enough. Mr. Lockhart hates me.” _

_ “Listen here Cloud Strife,” his mother said, tilting her son’s face to look at hers. “You did nothing wrong. Brian lost his wife, and Tifa lost her mama. He’s going through a lot, and what he said was out of anger and grief. He didn’t mean what he said. He shouldn’t have struck you either, that I do have a problem with.” _

_ She examined Cloud’s bruise before placing a kiss on top of his head. “Don’t mind him, Cloud. People act out because they are hurting. Right now, Mr. Lockhart is hurting because Tifa’s hurt. She’s his baby. I would be too if something had happened to you.” _

_ “Mom...do you think...Tifa is gonna die?” Cloud asked, terrified. “Would it be…” _

_ “No, it would not be your fault if she returned to the Planet,” Claudia responded shortly. “Don’t ever blame yourself, Cloud. It was not your decision to go into Mt. Nibel. And all you can do now, is pray that little girl will make it out alright.” _

_ The crackling of the fire inside the stove was all that Cloud could hear. His mother’s soothing words as he continued to think about the events of that day. He had been so excited to finally be inside Tifa’s room that day with the other children. She had lost her mother, and Cloud wanted to come and see if she was alright. _

_ Never did he think it would result in this. He sniffed as Claudia placed a handkerchief in his hand she pulled from her apron pocket. “Dry those tears,” she said. “People only cry if they did something wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong, so no need to shed those tears.” _

_ Cloud nodded and wiped them. Claudia sighed as she looked out the window near the kitchen to look across toward the Lockharts home next door. It was much larger than their humble cottage, but for the most part, the family was polite and little Tifa was always so sweet whenever she tended to the garden and the little girl would wave to her.  _

_ “You know...that little girl’s been through a lot,” Claudia said. She turned to Cloud. “Once she wakes up, I think she’d want a friend.” _

_ “She has plenty of friends,” Cloud mumbled. He then looked down, blush spreading on his face. “She doesn’t need anymore. Not after what her dad said.” _

_ Claudia watched her son, but a knowing smile formed on her face. “You...like Tifa?” _

_ “Ew! No!” Cloud said, shaking his head. “That’s gross!” _

_ His mother continued watching her son react strongly to this, but she could read between the lines at his quickness to excuse himself from the table.  _

_ “I don’t think so, “ Claudia said giggling. “Someday, you might change your mind.” _

* * *

Cloud found a small boulder to rest up against. He hissed as he noted the deep cuts on his shoulders. He quickly reached into his pockets and pulled out a small Elixir. The magical properties in the liquid covered the woulds, and slowly he felt the warmth from the healing. 

“That’s better,” he sighed in relief. He quickly placed the bottle back into his pocket as he looked around him. The surroundings looked a little familiar, which meant there was the Materia cave nearby that was so saturated with mako that the natural Materia fountain should be nearby. “Maybe...you’ll be there?”

He still felt a soreness in his leg, but Cloud was able to keep walking without much of a limp. He looked around the walls of the cliffs, hoping to find the entrance where he had been years before. Finally, his eyes found the small entrance that was carved out into the mountain. 

Several minutes passed, and he crossed into a multicolored cavern that was enriched in mako energy. He could smell the scent of the mako wafting through the air, which caused him a little nausea, remembering how many times he had suffered mako poisoning. 

Slowly, Cloud walked toward the main vein of the cavern that led into the space where a mako fountain that developed natural Materia was fed by the Planet’s life force. Sure enough, the spring hadn’t dried up and the Materia continued to grow even larger as a crystalized structure. 

“Found you,” he said. Looking around, he then spotted something standing across the way. A woman with long dark hair with her back turned towards him. Cloud’s eyes widened. He had found her. “Tifa.”

The woman didn’t respond. She kept her back turned towards him. But surely enough it was her. Covered in dirt and scrapes. Yet, she was alive. Tifa was alive. 

“Tifa!” Cloud couldn’t help himself. He started running across the fountain, closing the distance between the two of them. “Tifa!”

Finally, he thought to himself. He was here and Tifa was OK. When he finally approached her, she still didn’t move. Cloud, puzzled, slowly placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey? You OK? Tifa, I was so worried about you.”

But when she didn’t answer again, Cloud turned her to face him and was mortified by the dark look in her eyes. “Tifa…”

Suddenly, Cloud cried out in pain. He looked down and found a familiar blade having pierced through his body. He looked into Tifa’s eyes and saw something he recognized. “S-Sephiroth.” Tifa withdrew the blade quickly from Cloud’s torso, who gasped and crumpled to the ground. 

Tifa walked casually around Cloud, holding Sephiroth’s sword while she observed the man who had fallen in front of her. She was smiling darkly.

“Welcome back, Cloud.”


	13. Deep Within Chaos

Tifa walked slowly around Cloud, observing him as he struggled to move. She stabbed him again and again with the masamune blade. The silvery steel blade, menacing and long, cut through Cloud easily. He cried out as each stab cut through him, blood rapidly flowing out of him from each stab wound. 

“Sephiroth...what...did...you…” Cloud groaned. Tifa’s eyes were similar to the night she almost died. No longer glittering and reflective of a night sky filled with stars. There was no light. Her light had been choked out. This vessel, this body, wasn’t the Tifa he knew. 

“You’ve really lost your touch after all these years, Cloud,” Tifa replied in a cold dark tone. Her voice was of terrible coldness that sent shivers down his spine. “I’m disappointed. I was hoping for you to put up more of a fight.”

“What did you do to Tifa?!” Cloud struggled to shout. He moaned as he felt his wounds. It wasn’t good. He was losing a lot of blood and fast. Blood was pooling around him, and he knew that if he didn’t act fast, he would be dead and rescuing Tifa would be all for nothing. “Answer me!”

Tifa grinned wickedly, as she slowly pointed the blade at his neck. She held the point right underneath his chin, pressing enough to nick the skin, sending a fresh trickle of blood. “She’s fine...perhaps feeling a bit….not like herself. So, she kindly let me use her body to let you know that your time on this Planet is finished.”

“No…” Cloud said, gritting his teeth. “What the fuck happened to her?”

“Her light is snuffed out,” Tifa replied, her gaze intensely focused on the fallen man on the ground in front of her. “As will I do to yours. As I’ve had alluded to in the past, I will never be a memory. But, perhaps you’ll serve as a reminder to all those who try and stand up against me.”

“Y-you’re lying!” Cloud said. “Tifa’s alive. I can feel her.”

“Denial is a dangerous poison,” she responded. “But, if you’d like...and if you beg...maybe I’ll let you see her once more before I destroy you.”

Cloud stood up slowly before reaching for his Fusion Sword. But Tifa cackled at this. “Remember Cloud, you hurt me, then you kill Tifa.” This caused Cloud to hesitate as he slowly stopped what he was doing. “That’s a good puppet. Now, bow down to me.”

“Never,” Cloud spat venomously. “Never will I forgive you for what you’ve done. You  _ monster. _ ”

With lightning fast speed, Tifa ran towards Cloud, who parried her blows with his swords. He flipped midair, as Tifa summoned the creatures that had attempted to drown her several nights ago. The creatures tried to grasp at him, but Cloud hopped off the walls of the materia cave, avoiding their reach. 

He whirled his sword above his head, prepared to strike with his Omnislash V.5 limit break when Tifa suddenly vanished. Cloud’s eyes widened, confused at how she was able to disappear without a trace. He landed on the ground, looking around for any sign that she would be coming at him. 

His eyes darted across the cave, trying to pick up any slight movements or disturbances. He struggled immensely to see where Tifa could be. Then, his ears perked at the slight sound of footsteps when Cloud turned and was stunned to see a younger version of Tifa standing in front of him like a ghost. He knew it was an illusion, but it was powerful. The little girl’s eyes started watering as Cloud’s defenses were lowering. 

“Why didn’t you save me?” The girl sobbed. “You let me fall and I almost died because of you!” 

“I-I...I’m sorry,” Cloud replied back. “I... didn’t know what to do! You ran off, and I wasn’t fast enough. Tifa, I thought you forgave me!”

“Why would I?!” Tifa shouted back at him. “You’re weak. You’re pathetic. You’re EMPTY.”

Cloud reeled at these accusations, but he shook his head. These illusions were attempting to get Cloud to let down his guard, but it was overpowering him. Memories started swirling around his head, overwhelming him with grief and guilt. “You promised…” Tifa said in a young voice. “You promised you’d come and save me if I was ever in trouble or trapped. You promised.”

Then, he felt something pierce him through the chest. He looked down and noticed the blade that had struck down many of his loved ones before blossoming like bloody flowers. That was when Cloud slowly felt the air escaping from his lungs, filling up with blood. He started choking on his breathing, gurgling from the violent streams of blood running down his shirt. 

Suddenly, Tifa raised her hands as if she was summoning something. She slowly erected a stone tablet from beneath Cloud and raised his body like a cadaver on a table before metal chains solidified and binded his arms and legs to the stone. The blood that had pooled beneath Cloud started quietly drizzling downward in a horrific cascade. 

“Tifa…” Cloud said, his vision getting groggier. “I’m sorry...I wasn’t strong enough.” Slowly, from the blood loss, he started blacking out...his last thoughts before darkness claimed was of their childhood promise underneath the night sky. It brought him comfort as his breath grew ragged. 

A single tear rolled down his bloodied face. 

* * *

Aerith ran to find Tifa who had walked off further into the white void to isolate herself. The Cetra was worried that the anger and resentment that had built up inside of the brawler was now corrupting her spirit, meaning that the likelihood of getting her reunited with her physical body was lessening as second passed. 

“Tifa! Hey, Tifa!”

“Go away!” Tifa shouted back at Aerith, who was taken aback by her coldness. “Get away from me!”

Suddenly, Aerith grabbed her arm which caused Tifa to pull away. She was about to shut down the flower girl before Aerith’s eyes widened in fear. 

“Cloud!” Aerith shouted with a tremor in her voice. “Tifa. Cloud!”

“W-what’s the matter?” Tifa asked, bewildered at the sudden change in her demeanor. “What about Cloud?”

The Cetra turned to Tifa and grabbed her arm, this time Tifa didn’t fight her. “I have to take you to him.”

“I-I thought I couldn’t go home?” She answered. “What’s going on?!”

Aerith closed her eyes, released Tifa’s arm and slowly clasped her hands together in silent prayer. Materializing in front of Tifa was a small reflective portal. Curiously, she peered through it like a mirror, and there, in its reflection...was the image of a bloodied man who was dying. 

It was the very image that sent arrows that pierced Tifa’s heart. She felt herself dying, though she never experienced that feeling of pain this immensely before. She felt helpless as she continued to see him hang on the stone tablet in a limp fashion, almost like a rag doll. 

“CLOUD!” Tifa screamed. Her eyes brimming with tears. “NO! CLOUD! Aerith, I have to go back! I have to save him!” The girl started crying hysterically, punching at the mirror as if she was trying to gain his attention, but she knew that Cloud couldn’t hear her. She was afraid that in his dying moments that he’d be alone. “C-Cloud…”

Her fingers touched the reflection, and Tifa willed for Cloud to be able to feel her touch, but knew that it’d be pointless. His eyes were losing focus, and soon, he’d be dead. If no one makes it to him in time, then it’s possible that Tifa would never return home and that she’d be left to wander aimlessly in the realm of the untethered spirits before hunting others like herself. 

She felt to her knees, and sobbed as the image of Cloud’s condition burned itself into her memory. “This is my fault. If I only didn’t lose myself...if only…” Tifa felt a slight pressure on top of her head, and then she realized that it was Aerith’s hand. The flower girl fell to her knees and embraced her friend. 

“Tifa...it’s not your fault,” Aerith said, crying. “Please don’t blame yourself. This was beyond your control...I don’t know what else I can do. You’re both...you both…” In this embrace, both women cried as the image of Cloud continued to haunt them. They were cornered with no other way out.

After several moments, Tifa slowly let go of Aerith before rising to her feet. She was done crying. She was done feeling helpless. She planned to end Sephiroth, and at least, find a way back home to be there with Cloud. Whether it meant saving him, or at least saying goodbye. 

“Tifa! Where are you going?!” Aerith shouted after her, as Tifa bolted forward, not even knowing if she’s headed in the right direction. “Tifa!”

Something within Tifa snapped. It was no longer about seeking peace. It was about seeking justice. One could not exist without each other, and Tifa had long lost her calmness and thoughts of forgiveness as she watched her best friend dying alone.

She didn’t have a plan, but she kept her gut feeling on finding Sephiroth and ending him. When she did spot his spirit, manipulating a similar reflection to the one that Aerith had conjured, Tifa ran like hell towards the man who was responsible for the destruction of her life, and the hindrance on her being able to find peace. 

Tifa ran in almost like a streak, causing Sephiroth to look bewildered at her as she somersaulted off his face. It knocked him back with such tremendous force that the spirit was caught off guard and looked at the girl with so much hatred that festered underneath his normally cruel and cool facade. 

“You...you bitch,” he snarled. “Those memories weren’t enough of a lesson to you...to remember where your place is. Maybe I need to remind you, once again until you learn to stay down when I tell you to stay down.”

He ran towards Tifa, his sword raised and started striking her. Tifa dodged several of his blows, but hissed when the cold steel sliced through her arm, sending a steady river down. “Shit,” Tifa gritted her teeth. She immediately dodged to the left, as Zack suddenly intervened bringing the Buster Sword forward and parrying Sephiroth. 

“Zack!” Tifa shouted, alarmed at the way Zack was continuing to protect her. Aerith summoned the forces from within the Lifestream to shoot beams of Holy energy at Sephiroth, who somehow managed to deflect with his own darkness.

“Tifa, we need to keep stalling Sephiroth,” he shouted. “You need to find an opening and take back control. It’s the only way to save Cloud and yourself.”

It was then Aerith had arrived in time to see the ongoing duel between Sephiroth and Zack, she quickly looked at Tifa and mended her wounds with her healing magic. “Tifa, we need to go now!” Just as the women started heading toward the reflection to create a portal, that was when their escape route grew even more hazardous. 

Suddenly, Sephiroth brought his blade down and sent Zack backwards, crashing into an invisible force surrounding them and collapsing onto the ground from his injuries and exhaustion. Aerith cried out to Zack before being cornered by Sephiroth who was advancing towards her. Tifa ran as fast as she could and slid on the ground before performing a Water Kick, knocking Sephiroth over. 

“You get away from her!” Tifa snarled. She then Beat Rushed Sephiroth, who continued using his blades to block Tifa’s fast and furious punches as Aerith got herself out of the corner safely. “YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH HER AGAIN!”

Tifa suddenly glowed gold before she ran hard and fast toward him, summoning all her strength before she used her Final Heaven limit break to pulverize Sephiroth. The man gasped at the immense power of Tifa, wondering for the briefest moment that he had underestimated her. 

“I see you’ve gained some strength,” he said, wiping a small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. “But I’m afraid your time is coming to a close. Soon, you and your body will be untethered and you’ll forever wander this world alone with no way of getting back home. You’ll be...a puppet.”

“Tifa!” Aerith shouted, holding onto Zack who was slowly regaining consciousness. “Tifa!”

* * *

The physical Tifa had frozen during the time her spirit was battling against Sephiroth. Cloud, hanging in the air, was unconscious from all the blood loss, but then, the cavalry arrived. 

Avalanche appeared through one of the main tunnels, and had paused at the bloodied mess in front of them. They appeared stunned by Tifa, but then, Red reminded them of what this meant. “Tifa is not here,” the beast roared. “We need to get Cloud!”

Barret started running toward the hanging man while the rest of the group started providing cover as Tifa was unfrozen and attempted to destroy the Materia cave by casting random spells in rapid fire. The man with the gun for his arm approached Cloud and shot at the chains which released him. 

The man caught Cloud in his arms and tried to get him to wake up. “Cloud! YO CLOUD! Don’t die on me man!”

Vincent and Cid were continuing to parry Tifa who had shot towards them like a rocket and started avoiding the quick stabs she attempted to make with the blade of Sephiroth’s sword. 

“Dammit, Barret! Are you having a goddamn tea party or are you almost done?” Cid shouted over his shoulder, groaning at the slice wound Tifa had made across his leg. “DAMMIT.” Just as when the pilot was about to shout out more expletives, Tifa then used an unseen force to throw the man across the cave and crash through some stone, knocking him out. 

Yuffie and Cait Sith tried to run in as distractions, but were largely left to the devices of several shadow creatures that had appeared through the ground. Just as one shadow beast tried to maul the two of them, Vincent appeared through his tattered red cloak and shot through the creature as if it was nothing. 

Then, out of nowhere, an avatar of Tifa appeared behind Vincent and stabbed through the ex-Turk through his stomach, causing him to gasp. Despite having been the vessel for Chaos, the man was struggling to find the strength to fight through the excruciating pain. Sephiroth quickly withdrew his sword, causing Vincent to buckle and fall to his knees. Blood trickled from the corner of his lip. 

“Vincent!” Yuffie cried out, reaching out to her friend. “Cait Sith! Behind you!” The mechanical cat looked and was immediately crushed by a boulder. Its robotic arms and legs twitched only for a few seconds before completely dying out. Though Reeve was still safe at WHO, the idea of losing even a robotic comrade set Yuffie off in a fury. 

“You BASTARD!” She quickly threw her Conformer at Tifa, who immediately dissipated like fine mist and dissolved into the air. Just as when the ninja thought she had her, she also cried out as Tifa appeared behind her and slashed up vertically on her spine, causing her to crumple to the ground motionless. 

Barret, who was holding onto Cloud, laid the man up against some rocks and started firing rounds at Tifa who was dodging the bullets. He then decided to do something drastic. He held a grenade in his hand and tried to wait for the girl to come up close before grabbing her and detonating the explosive. 

Tifa reappeared before him in a phantom like fashion and growled. She swung Sephiroth’s sword against him, but Barret managed to dodge the attack. He started screaming and released the explosive as it sent a huge shower of fire and debris along with shattering decibels around the vicinity. 

As the smoke cleared, Barret had been knocked back up against the cave walls from the sheer aftermath and knocked out cold as blood poured from his arm and his gun was damaged beyond recognition into a sheer hunk of metal with short-circuiting wires sparkling from the bloodied stump. 

The woman laughed maniacally as she progressed toward Cloud, who was still unconscious and was hanging onto his life barely by a thread. “I’ll enjoy this the most,” she said, taking note of his lifeless body. “I hope this was all worth it for you, Cloud...because your time on this Planet is finally done.”

She picked up Cloud by the front of his shirt as he hung there without moving. Just as she was about to deliver a fatal blow, something stopped. The woman furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to continue watching her target. Something was off, she would’ve done something by now, but something was stopping her. 

“No!” Tifa shouted to herself. “Get away you bitch!”

* * *

In the midst of chaos, Tifa was engaged in an ongoing fight against Sephiroth. She was more than just a woman who was caught up in the dissen, but was a formidable opponent against the fallen war hero. Several times Tifa had staggered Sephiroth who had swung his blade against her. But each time, she continued finding other openings. 

“Why is he making easy mistakes like this?” Tifa thought. “It’s definitely not something like him to be leaving places this vulnerable...unless…”

Suddenly, Sephiroth’s one-wing appeared and started flapping. He rose into the air as the One-Winged Angel and growled at Tifa, who was staring up at him with dismay. “You might be as charming as a rose, but you’ve certainly been a thorn in my side for a moment too long,” he said cruelly. “I’ll smite you and make sure you’re left to wander the Planet for all of eternity.”

He then started smiling knowingly, causing Tifa to quiver. “Your time is about done. Any last words before I send you into oblivion? I promise if you beg for mercy, I’ll kill you quickly and the pain won’t be as severe...though I have no way of knowing how death feels.”

Despite his taunts, Tifa knew that her time was running out. The blood moon and heat lightning storms will slowly wane from the sky, and she’ll have no way of returning to her body. It was then she knew...that there’s a significant chance she might not be able to come home and see the children. Nor, will she be able to pursue a life with Cloud. 

“I’m sorry, Cloud,” Tifa whispered smiling. “I gave it all I could. Promise, you’ll live on for us and for the kids...maybe, we’ll meet again.” With that, the fighter tightened and straightened out her gloves and started bouncing on her feet. If she was going to go down fighting, she planned to take Sephiroth with her. 

It was then, when around Tifa, small spheres of light started surrounding her. She felt an immense warmth spread within her body. These orbs of light were individual spirits who had been untethered and left alone to wander aimlessly with no clear direction as to whether they’ll be absorbed into the Lifestream, or be forgotten. 

Yet, these spirits had an affinity for Tifa, who they saw as themselves. A person who was fighting against evils and demons that they had succumbed to, and wanted to be redeemed and forgiven. They slowly swirled around the fighter, trying their best to lend her their strength as she felt herself power up more than hundreds of power sources.

“What is this?!” Sephiroth shouted as these spheres fused with Tifa’s form, causing her to glow in a heavenly light. At this rate, hundreds and thousands of small spheres of light continue to arrive and scatter about like fireflies. Sephiroth swung his blade through the orbs, but them not being solid masses, the blade phased through them like air. 

“No matter,” Sephiroth said, eyeing Tifa’s glowing body. “Just as I said, the blood moon and heat lightning storms are waning. The absence of your light and soul from the world will only expedite your corruption and death. Once you’re dead, nothing will prevent me from finishing off the boy who had the audacity to stand up to me.”

Memories. Tifa started remembering things about the physical world. She hadn’t realized how much of her memories started fading each minute that passed with her separation. She couldn’t recall the smell of the ocean air, or the feeling of sand beneath her feet. The wetness of water trickling over her hands. 

But, she did remember Cloud’s smile. Something that had kept her tethered to the world as she continued to find ways to forgive herself after everything life had thrown at her, and her choices that led to the demise of numerous innocent people. There, she felt the light of these spirits warming the aches in her heart, the scars that were cut deep and all of her ills were slowly healed. 

She glowed gold and in lightning fast speed, she summoned her strength and jumped into the air with her arm pulled back, prepared to deliver a final blow, and Sephiroth was too eager to come meet her mid-way with his sword drawn away from him as he was ready to strike her down. 

Once fist and metal connected, an immense burst of light engulfed the white void, blinding everyone who was within close proximity. The space shook like an earthquake, and the only sounds that could be heard were the cries of the Planet. 


	14. Depth of the Heart

It felt just as it did after Meteor was destroyed. Gaia’s people would walk out, blinking into the sunlight as if they were underground for centuries and just resurfacing after a devastating war. The casualties unknown, and the amount of trauma sustained wouldn’t be known. 

Somehow, the Materia Cave had collapsed around Cloud and the others, but they were only covered partially by the rubble and miraculously avoided getting crushed. Barret had shielded Cloud from the falling debris and only suffered minor injuries as a result. As for the others...

“Is everyone…” Cloud asked quietly, trying hard to fight through the pain that was making him want to pass out again. “Is everyone…”

“I don’t know man,” Barret said, shaking his head. “I thought I knew, but...everyone’s knocked out. I don’t know how bad the damage is until we go out and take a look for ourselves.”

The blood moon was almost a sliver in the sky, and the lightning storms were growing less and less ominous. Cloud looked up and realized that time was almost up. He had accepted the fact that Tifa was most likely dead and will never come back home. The night sky was ever oppressing with its darkness, and the tinge of red was fading. 

Despite this, he had some small hope that Tifa was alive. It was then, when he heard an agonizing cry. A woman’s scream that broke through the oppressive cold air of Mt. Nibel. Cloud had pointed out this sound to Barret who slowly supported Cloud by helping him walk through the rubble. 

He had found slowly, through the tiny path that was walkable signs that the others had survived the onslaught of Sephiroth’s possession and attempts on their lives. Vincent was being helped by Cid, and Yuffie was being healed by Red, who was curled up underneath a small rock ledge that had sheltered him from the avalanche of rocks. 

Cloud sighed and shook his head at the sight of the wrecked Cait Sith doll that Reeve had numerous copies. Though charming at first, he sometimes wondered if Reeve would ever consider just physically joining the fight. However, when thinking about the luck-based limit breaks he had, Cloud highly doubted that the former Shinra employee would ever consider such a thing. 

Barret nodded at the others who were grimacing in pain. They nodded as the two men slowly ambled through the destroyed mountain pass to find who they were looking for. There, kneeling in the rubble, was an injured Tifa who looked crazed and angry. 

When she saw both Barret and Cloud, she immediately panicked, and started growling demonically at them as they attempted to draw themselves closer to her. Despite his warnings, Cloud continued to walk towards Tifa without Barret and he fell to his knees in a weakened condition. 

“Tifa...I know you’re in there,” he whispered. He gently tucked a strand of messed up hair behind her ear with her familiar teardrop earring. Tifa swiped at Cloud, cutting into his already scarred and bloodied face. While he bled, he continued to fight through her confusion. “I know you made it out...I know you’re the one who destroyed the cave.”

The woman screamed in tongues that Cloud didn’t recognize, but he knew that Tifa’s spirit had been away from her body for too long. This meant that she may never fully return to her body, and he’d have to live with that thought. He found himself slowly breaking down in front of his childhood friend, and one of the few people who he opened his heart to in his life. 

Now, he felt as if that was ripped away from him too. Tifa’s empty red eyes looked into Cloud’s blue ones and they were devoid of the love and kindness that she had for him in the past, and more than anything, he regretted never appreciating that about her. He never realized just how much she meant to him, and how painful it was to think she may never return to him. 

Slowly, Cloud found enough strength to tell Tifa what he wanted to say if he had ever found her after the creatures untethered her spirit from her body, carrying her miles away from him where she had to deal with this ordeal all alone. More than anything, he struggled to find the right words to make things right.

“Ever since we went on this journey together, I doubted why you needed to find forgiveness when we could’ve had it all laid out for you back home in Edge,” Cloud said to Tifa honestly. “But, I thought more about myself than I did about you, and I’m sorry. After all these years...you’ve been trying to tell me how you were doing, and I just…”

* * *

_ It was a late night once Cloud returned home from one of his deliveries. After having resettled at Seventh Heaven, he was working extra hard to show Tifa and the kids that he was going to be staying put and not go anywhere without a trace like he had before having contracted Geostigma.  _

_ Denzel and Marlene were working on their homework, while Tifa was deep cleansing the counter and mopping the floors from an apparent spill of beer and wine as drunk patrons waltzed out of the establishment in a stupor. Cloud loathed dealing with customers who decided to test their limits each night, but Tifa always held together a smile for whenever he returned home.  _

_ “Has it been busy?” Cloud asked, walking over to the sink. He washed his hands and usually, Tifa would respond with a yes or no, and dive into an anecdote of what had occurred throughout the day. Since coming home, she had been working hard in trying to bring Cloud back into the fold, but it wasn’t as it was before.  _

_ “It was fine,” Tifa would say, nodding in acknowledgement of Cloud’s questions. He didn’t realize that after a while, Tifa had stopped going into depth on her day and would just give a simple yes or no to his questions. Perhaps, he had never really asked Tifa how she was, rather focusing on the business and how the children were.  _

_ Tifa had always been there, doing the same thing every day. Work on the bar, take his delivery orders, cook and clean while minding the kids. Denzel and Marlene had been sensing that Tifa was feeling overwhelmed or there were days when she didn’t seem to realize that she was making repetitive cocktails and customers would complain if she didn’t seem engaged in their flirtatious conversations.  _

_ No one knew really when there was a change in how Tifa was acting, but it had been the same for a while. It didn’t draw any red flags for anyone, but it did concern them when the barmaid would appear to be on the verge of tears during busy hours. Those were usually the times the barmaid would shine, and instead, she was dull and appeared uninterested in the moment.  _

_ “Great,” Cloud said, nodding. He didn’t really take in what Tifa was saying to him. He just assumed things were fine, or that Tifa was probably tired from the dinner rush. But, it was this particular night when he noticed that Tifa had been growing more and more distant from him. She didn’t care to carry on with their conversations and instead, withdrew inward.  _

_ “Something the matter?” Cloud asked. His mako-blue eyes were zoned in on Tifa’s ruby-red ones. “You seem..different.” _

_ Tifa sighed and shook her head. “It’s nothing.” She looked outside the window that was off to one of the sides of the bar and seemed listless. There was an air of impatience and tension bubbling beneath the surface.  _

_ “Doesn’t seem like nothing,” he replied, causing Tifa to frown.  _

_ “Sometimes, nothing is nothing,” she shrugged. “There doesn’t need to be a reasoning for how I feel the way I do. I just feel it and move on with it.” _

_ Cloud frowned, but he finished washing his hands and wiped them on a towel hanging next to the sink before turning his attention toward Tifa again. She was staring intensely at him and then stopped herself. “What?” _

_ “You’re staring,” Cloud said. He took in the sight of the woman in front of him. It was impossible, but somehow, Tifa seemed to have gotten more beautiful with each passing year. Yet, the thing that was throwing him off was the lack of her cheerful and strong nature she always carried. It’s not like her. “Something’s wrong, Tifa. What aren’t you telling me?” _

_ Tifa slowly backed away and then shook her head. “I’m not in the mood to talk about it.” _

_ “OK,” Cloud said before returning to the front of the bar. “Well, I’m gonna grab some food and go to bed if you don’t have anything you want to tell me.” _

_ She gasped and shook her head. “Oh, Cloud...I’m so sorry, I forgot to get dinner ready for you!” _

_ “Don’t worry about it, Teef,” Cloud said, shrugging. “It happens. I can just make a sandwich or something. No need to worry yourself about it.” _

_ Cloud walked himself into the kitchen and pulled out a loaf of bread before slicing it and adding some roast and vegetables on top. He poured himself a glass of milk before sitting at the counter seats of the island in the backroom and started eating. Tifa had followed him and sat down opposite of him and continued focusing on him in silence.  _

_ While he ate, Cloud couldn’t help but feel irked that Tifa was staring blankly at him. He didn’t know if he was doing something wrong, or if there was something else that was on her mind. But he couldn’t help if he didn’t know.  _

_ “Tifa, you’re doing it again,” Cloud said, slightly irritated. “What’s wrong?” _

_ “It’s just weird seeing you here,” Tifa admitted. “After all these months of not hearing from you, and now you’re back...it’s just taking some getting used to again, that’s all.” _

_ “Oh. Well, I guess I’m here now,” He retorted, causing Tifa to flinch slightly. “It’s not like I’ve been gone forever...just a little while.” _

_ The barmaid clasped her hands together as Cloud ate his late supper. Her demeanor was not as cheerful as it had once been, but he wasn’t in the mood to guess why. He had a long day of deliveries and was trying to unwind from it all. The last thing that appealed to him was getting into another argument.  _

_ “Why didn’t you trust us?” Tifa whispered, causing him to cringe. “I thought we were doing OK, and then...you were gone. I thought you had gotten into an accident or something terrible happened on one of your routes, but it wasn’t from you that I heard you were still in town. I heard it from a customer.” _

_ “Tifa, we’ve been through this already, I wasn’t in a good headspace to deal with what I had,” Cloud sighed, referring to his Geostigma. It was true, he could’ve told Tifa, but he just didn’t feel the need to burden his young family with the ominous feeling that he was going to die. “There really wasn’t anything you could’ve done. Aerith’s rain healed me, and I’m fine and here now.” _

_ It was a complicated feeling, but Cloud knew it wasn’t good enough for Tifa who had been watching him with scrutiny since he returned home. Sure, she was more relieved than anything that he was home, but he knew that she was still feeling betrayed that he had found solace somewhere else outside of the walls of the house they built together.  _

_ “I guess you’re right,” Tifa said. She then slowly started searching herself. “Hey Cloud...there’s been something I wanted to tell you…” _

_ Cloud looked at Tifa, pausing himself to hear what she had to say, however, a sudden clang upstairs reminded the two adults that Denzel and Marlene were way past their bedtime. Cloud sighed and stood up from his chair, scooted it forward.  _

_ “We can pick this up later, Tifa,” he said, picking up a dish and walking it over to the back sink. He washed it and then set his plate on the rack to dry. He didn’t catch the expression of disappointment on Tifa’s face as he headed upstairs to have the children calm down and get settled into bed.  _

* * *

He was growing weaker from the pain and trying to focus on the girl in front of him. It was an all new low of Sephiroth to attack an innocent woman who had done nothing to him, aside from healing his fractured mind. The man had stolen everything from them, and now, Cloud feared Sephiroth had taken Tifa away from him. 

“It’s not fair,” he said hoarsely. “We didn’t deserve anything of this...I just want us to live out our lives together and be forgiven. I...I can’t do this without you, Tifa and I’m sorry that I didn’t do nearly enough to protect you. To be there for you when you said you needed to settle things. I had no right to just think what worked for me, would work for you.”

Cloud couldn’t help but feel himself being torn at the seams and trying to hold himself together. But at this moment, he felt completely broken and raw. The floodgates were opening, and he finally let himself cry out his pain. He lost everything: Nibelheim. His mother. Aerith and Zack...and now...possibly...he may have lost his main reason to fight. 

Tifa was strangely quiet, as if registering all that he was saying. The woman was silently watching Cloud who had crumpled in front of her. A broken man sobbing at what had happened to them both from over the years, but he was admitting to his own flaws. He had depended on Tifa to be his emotional support, but he had not returned that favor for her when she needed it the most. 

This whole journey was meant to rectify that, and yet...Tifa had suffered the most between the two of them during this journey, and he was there selfishly wishing that she hadn’t chosen to go when she could’ve been safe at Edg/e. But, the man did acknowledge one thing: Tifa was allowed to make a choice for herself, and no one should’ve been telling her how to cope with the pain. 

* * *

_ Cloud and Barret had been sitting at the bar, drinking Corel Wine that Tifa had remedied into an easier beverage to drink. The three of them had been spending many nights at the bar, trying to forget the pain of their pasts. Barret himself had been searching for oil fields and finding alternative sources of energy and settling past discretions in his former town of Corel.  _

_ “Mind you, I met up with the rest of them folks back in town and they’re all moving on with their lives,” Barret said, hiccupping slightly as Tifa refilled his glass. “I hope someday we can get there, but it’ll be a long time before we all can just live with our lives and give back to the Planet.” _

_ “Sounds great, Barret,” Tifa said in a slightly tired tone. “I’m glad you’re able to figure out what you needed.” _

_ “How’re things at the bar?” The man asked. “How are the kids?” _

_ “They’re...alright,” Tifa said, hesitating slowly. “Denzel’s recovering from the entire ordeal with Geostigma, but I can tell that Marlene misses you a lot.” _

_ Barret sighed. “I know Tifa, and I wish I can be here for her too, but my hands are still too dirty to carry her still. I mean, I get it. It’s tough work being a parent, but sometimes we gotta keep pushin’ forward. Otherwise, we’re gonna be stuck thinkin’ about our past and never really atoning for them.” _

_ A strange and disturbing look registered on Tifa’s face that led to an awkward and tense silence that Cloud desperately wanted to break, but something snapped at that moment. Something that was there that was simmering, not unlike a pot that had been on the burner for too long and the contents spilling over.  _

_ “Gee, I wish I knew what that’s like,” she muttered. Tifa silently poured herself some more wine in her glass and practically downed it in a gulp. “Being out there, trying to figure out how I could make up for the lives I took. Instead, I’m here wiping down the bar and mixing up drinks for drunks. Taking care of children when I have my own burdens I have to carry.” _

_ The men looked incredulously at Tifa, who usually didn’t contest her job at all. In fact, they let her have a full run of the establishment and make all the executive decisions of how the business should be run. Wasn’t that enough? _

_ “What do you mean, Tifa?” Barret asked bewildered. “Hell, the sins I’ve been carryin’ they’re a heavy load. That ain’t fair to Marlene for me to--” _

_ “And mine aren’t?” Tifa said shortly, causing both Barret and Cloud to look at her in surprise. “I mean, I’ve been through similar situations...and I haven’t abandoned my family. I had to power through it. You don’t think it’s fair that Cloud and I had to take on parental roles while in our state? You don’t think WE also have sins we have to make up for too? How is that fair to Marlene or Denzel?” _

_ The bartender looked at the two of them, angrily shaking. It appeared too much for Tifa to keep holding her frustration and anger inside. It was threatening to spill over, and this time she might say things that she didn’t mean and won’t be able to take back.  _

_ “Tifa…” Cloud said warningly, but Barret motioned to Cloud to stay silent. “Go ahead, girl, what do you mean?” _

_ “Barret, Marlene missed out on having her daddy around for years, and you say you’re settling your past,” Tifa said angrily. “But that little girl needs her papa, and dammit, I think so too. If her daddy is still alive, then he should be doing all he can to be around for her while she grows up!” _

_ She slowly breathed, as if trying to keep herself calm. But Tifa continued. “I’ve been as supportive as I can helping raise Marlene as if she was my own daughter, but it’s not fair what you’re doing to her. I’m angry for her. No child should be growing up without their mama or papa. Especially if they’re still around!” _

_ “What are you sayin’ Tifa?” Barret asked coolly. “I ain’t a good daddy to Marlene? You never once had a problem taking care of her. Why is it different now?” _

_ “Because the Planet was saved,” she responded just as coldly. “But I’m still relegated to serving you all drinks and food, and heck, throw in a couple kids too. You all say that this is my way of forgiving myself for the sins of the past, but no, I’m just babysitting. I have apparently no other reason for staying here to forgive myself aside from being someone who has to watch over everyone else.” _

_ It was at this that Barret started smirking in a way that made Cloud turn away. He continued sipping his wine, not wanting to intervene. He was dealing with his own shit, but it was almost like Tifa was picking a fight with Barret. _

_ “You don’t love your children, Tifa?” Barret almost taunted. “Motherhood getting a little too tough for you? No one ever said parenthood was gonna be easy. What happened to ya? You’ve always been someone who would do anything for her friends and family. Why is it an issue now?” _

_ Cloud groaned and buried his head into his hands. Barret was not making a case for himself, instead, he kept digging a deeper hole. “Might as well hand you the shovel and then some,” he thought.  _

_ “Marlene is YOURS,” Tifa shot back angrily. “I love her as if she were mine, but she needs YOU. I can’t sit here and take responsibility if something were to happen to you and she asks me why her daddy cared more about himself than her! You’re dodging your responsibilities to parent and use the Planet as an excuse to avoid her!” _

_ “Marlene understands better than most adults,” Barret huffed. “She understands why her daddy needs to keep fightin’ and to protect the world so that it’s a better place to grow up.” _

_ “LET OTHERS FIGHT FOR HER,” Tifa roared. She lifted a finger. “You either take responsibility for Marlene or give her up to someone else and not let her call you ‘Daddy’ anymore. You’re an absent father and it’s time you stop running from your problems and confront them.” _

_ Tifa looked so angry, and Cloud was alarmed by how much she had kept inside. But, some of the stinging and harsh words she had spouted. “You think you’re doing what’s right for Marlene, but I’m acting more like her actual parent than you have!” _

_ There was so much silence in the bar that anyone could hear a pin drop. Cloud kept drinking his wine, trying to regain some of his feelings. He felt numb to it all. This wasn’t like Tifa at all, and all he could do was just sit back. It’s true, Marlene wasn’t Cloud’s daughter, but he had grown fond of her over the years. Yet, he also took on a guardian role for Denzel too.  _

_ He never wanted kids, but somehow, he ended up with two and he never contested it. He didn’t ask for the children, but Cloud never wanted to give them up either. He loved them both, so it had shocked him that Tifa was feeling so overwhelmed with everything and not having anyone notice.  _

_ Yet, Tifa laid it all out, and some of those words would be unforgivable in Cloud’s mind. But Barret usually didn’t mince words either and could defend himself. So could Tifa.  _

_ “Better keep your mouth shut, Tifa,” Barret said in a death whisper. “Don’t forget who gave you a job and ownership of the bar back in Sector 7 Slums when you barely could stand on your own two feet. I had my reasons, but don’t forget who helped you along the way when you were a child yourself.” _

_ The large man sighed and stood up. “I’m gonna go and see my daughter, but in the meantime, might wanna work on that attitude of yours.” _

_ As Barret walked upstairs, Tifa angrily smashed a glass up against the wall, sending sprays of Corel wine up onto the bar countertops, back cabinets and floor. Cloud, who had been silent the entire time, kept his attention forward, taking care to avoid making eye contact.  _

_ “Thanks for stepping up,” Tifa said rather sarcastically to him. “You have a way with words.” _

_ “You handled that well on your own, I think,” Cloud shot back harsher than he intended. “Honestly, Teef. Did you think it was gonna go any differently?” _

_ “Well, someone needed to say it and I know for a fact you weren’t going to,” Tifa replied. “I need someone to show up for me for once.” _

_ The two stared at each other as Cloud sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Tifa, honestly. Barret’s going through his own shit. You know that...attacking him for not being around Marlene enough isn’t fair.” _

_ “I can’t believe you’re defending him. After all the crap he gave you about your own past!” Tifa scowled. “‘Work together as a family and keep at it,’ That wasn’t for me to be forgiven. That’s just unloading on us, and allowing himself to be selfish. I want to be damn selfish too! I have my own things I have to take care of too!” _

_ “I’m not,” Cloud said. “I’m just saying you need to understand the whys more than your own point of view---” _

_ “Stop it,” Tifa said coldly. “God. You guys always defend each other, but my feelings always get the back seat.” She threw her hands in the air and started storming out the bar. “I give up! I’ll just do my work like a good bartender and keep quiet then. Pay me no mind! Everyone can have their own little ways of dealing with shit, but I’m the one who has to take everyone else’s plans. I’ll accommodate. No problem!” _

_ She slammed the door leading into her side office next to the kitchen, leaving Cloud to drink alone. The normally warm feeling the wine had given him had turned cold.  _

* * *

Tifa’s silence and long stare at him made Cloud tremble slightly. This wasn’t the way how things were supposed to end. They were supposed to come home together. They were supposed to have conquered their demons, not succumb to them. Still, there was some part that made him wonder if he would've done things any differently. If perhaps the men had allowed Tifa a chance to get out of the bar more, then maybe...

“I know we messed up,” Cloud muttered. He wiped his eyes. “I messed up, Tifa. I did a lot of things to you that I wish I could do over again. I wish that I never hurt you. I wish that I realized sooner that you needed to make peace, but I was so focused on myself. I never listened and heard what you needed, and instead, just trusted everyone else to make those decisions for you.”

Dawn was approaching. The rays of the early morning sun reached into the fallen shambles of Materia Cave. Everything around Cloud looked like broken diamonds, and the ever strong smell of mako was continuing to waft through the area, reminding him of the saturated contents of the Lifestream pooling within Mt. Nibel. 

Tifa’s blank expression stared at Cloud, and she didn’t appear to go anywhere. He couldn’t help but wonder if Tifa was an empty shell of her former self. Doomed to be separated from her body, and to forever be untethered to her spirit. He missed how warm she was, and how caring she was. Now...this...the Planet was toying with them, and he wanted to be done with it. 

He wiped a trickle of blood that had bubbled on the corner of his mouth. There was so much he wished he could say to Tifa, and to be able to hear her recognize his words and acknowledge that she could hear him and listen to him. Cloud closed his eyes and thought of one of his secretly held memories that not even Tifa knew about. 

The man slowly embraced Tifa, despite knowing the risk that he could be injured, and in his condition, that it’d be a fatal mistake. However, he still trusted her. The woman was broken, but she was still Tifa. He’d have her even if she was damaged beyond repair. He loved every piece of her, and despite the bad days...he’d take them with the numerous good ones. 

* * *

_ It was a particularly long day, and Cloud had returned from his deliveries with muddy boots. Fenrir unexpectedly got caught in a mud pit, causing the engines to be clogged with sludge and other debris. After waving down a group of men who were driving by in a rusty old pick-up truck, Cloud finally had made it home with the goods.  _

_ Tifa appeared relieved when he walked through the threshold of Seventh Heaven, dirty, but alive and uninjured. “What happened? I tried calling you.” _

_ “Mud pit near the Chocobo Farm,” Cloud replied, pulling up his driving goggles. While doing so, Tifa had run over to the backroom and pulled out a clean rag for him to wipe away the muk gathered on his face. “Thanks.” _

_ Cloud struggled with getting the mud from other parts of his clothes, resulting in Tifa asking him to clean himself up while she attempted to remove as much of the mud as possible. “Honestly, I don’t know if you can save this, Cloud,” she said shaking her head in amusement. “I think you’re gonna have to throw these away.” _

_ The bartender looked away with a slight blush on her face as Cloud removed his clothes, but was left standing in his boxer briefs. “Tifa, you’ve...already seen me before. It’s OK to look.” _

_ “I know,” Tifa said embarrassed. “Doesn’t mean that I’m used to it.” _

_ She then shook her head. “I’m gonna try to salvage these.” The barmaid took the piles of soiled clothes, but not without Cloud suddenly panicking. There was something in the pocket of his pants that he had forgotten there, and Tifa was not meant to see it...yet.  _

_ “Tifa!” _

_ She turned around, her expression confused. “Something wrong?” _

_ “I-I...um…” Cloud was trying to think of something quick to distract Tifa, but then came up with the only other thing that came right to mind. He quickly walked over to her and then kissed her. Her eyes widened at this, but she didn’t reject the kiss, accidentally dropping the pile of clothes she had intended to wash.  _

_ While kissing, Cloud swiftly and stealthily reached into the pocket and pulled out the small item and hid it behind his back. Tifa’s face was flushed, but she smiled. “What was that for?” _

_ “Um...just missed you while out there, that’s all.” _

_ Tifa raised an eyebrow. “You’re being suspicious, Cloud Strife. But, I’ll play along.” She then picked up the clothes she had dropped in her surprise and headed back toward the laundry room. “Supper is ready soon, so you should take a hot shower before coming down. “ She slightly teased him. “You’re starting to stink.” _

_ “Sure thing.” _

_ Just as Tifa headed out through the back, Cloud made sure she hadn’t noticed anything before pulling out in front of him what he had tried to keep secret. It was a small box. Opening it slowly, was a simple ring with a single diamond in the center. It wasn’t fancy, but he had wanted to make another kind of promise to Tifa, and this time, he wanted to be the one to ask her to make it.  _

* * *

He thought it was his imagination at first, but then he realized that the small pressure on his back was someone returning his embrace. Cloud quickly looked down and saw Tifa, her eyes returned to their glittery carmine shade and inside...he recognized who it was staring back at him. 

“Tifa?” Cloud breathed in disbelief. It almost seemed like eternity, but the woman slowly lifted her hand and touched his face. He held her hand there and kept his eyes on hers. Even when it seemed as if everything had fallen and that he would be returning home without his partner, here she was. 

“Heya,” she said weakly. “You found me.”

“Tifa?” Cloud said. “I thought…”

She looked at him longer before shaking her head in almost a mocking way. “Silly...you thought...I wouldn’t be able to take on Sephiroth and live? Have some faith in me.” Tifa’s eyes slowly fluttered closed. “By the way, Aerith and Zack say ‘hello.’” She slumped over, but Cloud held onto her and gently held her as she rested, seemingly recovering from the injuries she sustained. 

The way he held her reminded Cloud of the time he had found her in Aerith’s church while on his way back from meeting with Rufus Shinra and the Turks at Healin Lodge. He never imagined seeing her lying in the middle of the flowers, completely injured and weak. 

Seeing Tifa that way made Cloud fear that he had lost another loved one, and that this time, there’d be no indisputable fact that he was unable to protect anyone. Including the one person he swore to protect. Cloud remembered how fragile and small Tifa seemed, which was the complete opposite of who she was. Dirt streaked face and all, he feared the worst as he called her name. 

That seemed so long ago, and now...he had just survived another encounter, wishing that he had ended Sephiroth and that he wouldn’t return. But deep down, Cloud knew Sephiroth would return time and time again, and it would never stop. It was an overwhelming thought, and he himself felt torn again. 

But it was Tifa’s voice that stirred Cloud from his worries. “Whatever it is...we’re not dealing with it alone anymore.”

With this, the man nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Cloud?”

“Yeah?”

"Let's go home."


	15. Epilogue: When the Stars Call You Home

Out in the middle of the desert, the sun was sinking into the sky painting deep purples, pinks and oranges into the sky. Cloud stood at the cliff’s edge, looking up at the moon and the stars. He smelled deeply the faint smells of flowers and earth, tying him down to the Planet.

It’s been several years since the events that almost tore Cloud and Tifa apart. Now 28, Cloud was starting to feel the immensity of how much time had passed. From where they were, to where they are now. Ever since he almost lost Tifa to the darkness, he now knew how precious she was to him. How important they were to each other. 

Though deep down, Cloud knew Sephiroth would continue to haunt and hunt him and the rest of Avalanche down. His hatred and will was so strong, it would continue to fuel his demented and deranged desire to kill any hope that’s left in the world. It was only a matter of time, before they would need to meet again. 

Yet, the ex-SOLDIER didn’t want to think of that what ifs tonight. Instead, he had one thing he had been desiring to do for years, and felt that there was no guarantee of tomorrow. He no longer wanted to regret wondering what could’ve been, and instead, live for the memories of the present. He needed to be present for the ones he loved and cared about in this world. 

That would be tonight, and for the rest of his life. 

He looked down at his cell phone, and noted the time. Cloud smiled at the photo background: Tifa, Marlene and Denzel were grinning and making silly faces. They managed to change the picture while he wasn’t looking, causing him to laugh out loud during one of his delivery routes when he pulled out his phone. 

Suddenly, a text message popped up across the screen. It was from Marlene, who had texted Cloud where he was and that they were waiting for him. He replied back that he was on his way, and silently tucked the phone back into his pocket. This time he wasn’t wearing his usual attire, but a black suit jacket with simple white-collared shirt and a black skinny tie, along with matching pants and shoes. A small yellow lily was pinned to his lapel. 

“Cloud?” The man looked down and saw that Red was flicking his flame-lit tail. For the occasion, he donned a hair comb that resembled closely to what his father Seto had worn before. “Everyone is waiting for you. Are you ready?”

He nodded and slowly followed the beast toward a campsite where the rest of Avalanche was waiting, dressed to the nines.

Marlene and Denzel were also dressed in matching outfits of white, with the former wearing a flower crown of yellow blossoms. They beamed at him as Cloud slowly made his way toward the center of the campsite where a large bonfire was burning. Everyone had sat in a circle around the flame, and they were waiting for their last guest of honor to arrive.

Red had invited the sacred tribal drummers from Cosmo Canyon to beat the ceremonial drums for this special occasion, and all the more, Cloud thought the drumming sounded a lot like the Planet’s heartbeat. Barret was standing next to Cloud in front of the flame wearing a similar suit, and then muttered: “I’m happy for you, but know that this isn’t something you can run away from.”

“I know,” Cloud responded. He kept his back to the earthen path. “It’s different this time.”

Suddenly, the drumming stopped. Red cleared his throat. “In Cosmo Canyon, we have a saying about finding our mate for life. The Planet connects all living beings to one another, that there is one other soul that is destined to be connected to your life energy. That your life will forever be intertwined until the day you are joined with the Lifestream.”

Red smiled at the small group of friends. “We have been on this journey together. We have lost beloved friends who should’ve been here today,” he said softly, causing Cloud to nod. “But, their spirits continue to light our path forward until we meet again someday in the Promised Land.” The beast flicked his tail. 

“Cloud Strife has found his chosen, and has  _ finally  _ pronounced his intent to walk alongside her until his dying breath,” Red said, laughter ensued from the emphasis on ‘finally.’ “He has promised the sacred Goddess to make the vows in the sanctity and spiritual circle of Cosmo Canyon and her sacred earth.”

Red then turned to Cloud. “Cloud, make your wish and toss the stardust into the flame.” Cloud nodded and took some of the crushed diamond stardust from a leather pouch handed to him, and closed his eyes, envisioning a life that was meant to be taken together with Tifa. He slowly tossed a handful of the glittery powder into the flame, turning the fire into a white flame and sent up silvery sparks like fireworks into the sky. 

Each sparkle and twinkle of the stardust continued to shower over the circle in an neverending display of pure light and beauty, as if coating them with its heavenly bodies. The magic of the stardust twinkled and continued to glow mid-air, summoning ethereal magic around them. 

“My people of Cosmo Canyon have shared this custom with us many times,” Red said. “Promises made under the moon are sacred, and so she has heard Cloud’s wish to move forward in holy unity with his one and only. She has accepted the offering of stars, and will now join two separate spirits in order to become one.”

The drumming slowly started again, joined by the sounds of the sacred flutes that the people of Cosmo Canyon had played for thousands of years. Cloud felt himself being warmed by the flames of the bonfire. It seemed forever ago that fire was something that reminded him and Tifa of how much the element could take away from them. But after years of healing, they were able to see it as life and creation. They saw it as light. 

“Within the sacred circle we have created as friends and family, let us now welcome Cloud’s intended...Tifa Lockhart,” Red said. The beast then nodded toward the darkness off in the distance that was slowly being revealed underneath cascading stardust, and slowly, Avalanche members were muttering to themselves in awe. 

Cloud slowly gathered himself before turning around. There, in a vision of pure loveliness...was Tifa. Her long hair twisted into a loose elegant plait down her back and a veil that flowed gently behind her. She wore a simple white dress made of some kind of flowy material flowing onto the ground, like an angel’s gown with a fitted bodice. 

In her hands she carried a bouquet of wild prairie flowers that was gathered together in a pink silk ribbon, reminiscent of the ribbons that everyone in Avalanche wore around their arms in remembrance of the Cetra and flower girl who had saved them all through the sacrifice of her life. 

He didn’t know exactly what he had expected, but it was beyond what he thought he could feel. His heart threatened to burst at the sight, and his mako-infused eyes were already spilling tears. Cloud for once felt so overwhelmed that he was rendered speechless, and it was for something so pure and happy. 

Tifa stepped forward and kept walking slowly towards him, underneath the endless showers of stardust. They lit up Tifa’s face in the dark, her eyes ever so slightly touched with the most minimal make-up that set off her beauty dramatically. Her perfect pink lips were glossy and Cloud could smell fresh rain and gardenias as she came closer. 

He drank in the sight of her, feeling himself break and repair himself over and over again. There was something so perfect about this moment. Something so human that he couldn’t help but feel like he was awakened from a deep sleep, and it was something he never wanted to do again. He wanted to waste no more time. 

Finally, Tifa entered the sacred circle. She handed her bouquet to Marlene who took it with tears gathering in her eyes. Denzel tried to play the cool guy, but he coughed multiple times to cover up the fact that he was indeed crying too at the sight of his adoptive parents finally making a commitment to one another. 

There wasn’t a dry eye in the vicinity. 

“Now that Cloud is joined by his intended, we can now ask Tifa to offer up her stardust to the Goddess,” Red said. 

Tifa obliged, mimicking the movements that Cloud had done just moments before her entrance. Soon, there was another shooting of falling stars, surrounding the circle of friends in the sacred ritual. Red bowed to the couple and the two returned the gesture.

“Now, the exchange of rings and the vows you’ve made,” the beast said quietly. Cloud’s hands were shaking slightly, feeling the immensity of the moment. His fingers gripped the white gold band interwoven like vines, sparkling within the fire’s glow. He slid the circle onto Tifa’s ring finger, who looked into her beloved’s eyes, and wept openly. 

“With this ring, I bind myself to you,” Cloud said solemnly. “Until the day the Planet calls me back into the Lifestream, and until the day I rejoin the Promised Land, may my vow be always true. Under the witness of the stars where we made our first promise as children, and now as your husband, whether the fates tear us apart or sees fit to keep us together, know that my love for you is unconditional and my home will always be with you.”

Tifa smiled, pulling out her band for Cloud. A matching one of simple metal, she slid it onto Cloud’s finger. “With this ring, I bind myself to you,” she repeated slowly, trying not to be overwhelmed. “Until the day the Planet calls me back into the Lifestream, and until the day I rejoin the Promised Land, may my vow be always true. Under the witness of the stars where we made our first promise as children, and now as your wife, whether the fates tear us apart or sees fit to keep us together, know that my love for you is unconditional and my home will always be with you.”

Suddenly, the stardust burned brighter and glowed stronger at the recitation of the vows. The falling dust slowly wrapped itself around Cloud and Tifa’s hands like heavenly vines, linking themselves together. Their souls were now connected by the vows they made to one another. 

“Now as your spirits forge together into one, know the promise you offered up to the Goddess,” Red said. “In the midst of darkness, the stars light and protect the heavens, just as you are now protecting one another. May you be each other’s light, and never forget the promise you made to the Planet and to each other.”

Red smiled at the couple. “I now, in front of the witnesses of those closest to you, and from those who are dearly departed, pronounce you husband and wife.” He turned to Cloud. “You may now kiss your bride.”

Peering deeply into each other’s eyes, the couple kissed in front of the sacred fire and the stardust glittering above them. They silently promised to one another, that no matter where the darkness lurked, whether it continued to haunt their hearts, or if evil continued to thrive in the darkest corners of the Planet, they would always light the path for one another. 

The stars were calling them home. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Resolution. Thank you so much for supporting this story. I felt the story slowly coming to its natural conclusion and didn't want to drag it out anymore. I always wanted a resolution to Cloud and Tifa's relationship, and finding some peace in knowing that they finally found each other again and loving each other for their brokenness and healing. 
> 
> I'm not sure what's next, but let me know what you want to see happen, whether this should be an ongoing series, or what suggestions you have for the next installment or next story you'd like me to pursue in the Cloti realm. Anyways, thank you!
> 
> -Luvless34


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